Teppa Lavanya Vs The State of T. G.

THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA

CRIMINAL PETITION No.12328 of 2025

ORAL ORDER:

This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’) for grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner, who is arrayed as accused No.2 in Crime No.148 of 2025 before the Mulkanoor Police Station, Warangal District.

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The brief facts of the case are that on 11.08.2025 at about 19:00 hours at Mulkanoor village, the deceased Angidi Naveena, wife of Angidi Sai Kumar, consumed grass killer poison in a rented house and later died on 23.08.2025 while undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad. The complainant, her mother Thirupathi Latha, alleged that one Chouda Shekar of Gopalapuram had developed an illegal relationship with Naveena for the past two years, took away her gold ornaments weighing about 15 tulas, and along with his sister Lavanya, harassed Naveena by demanding gold and money, which ultimately drove her to commit suicide. Hence, the case was registered.

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Heard Sri Neelam Bhargava Ram, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner as well as Sri D. Arun Kumar, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing on behalf of the respondent – State.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been arrayed as accused No.2 and is in no way connected with the alleged offence. He further submitted that the petitioner never resided with accused No.1 and the deceased, and even as per the remand case diary, the petitioner is a resident of Hyderabad and has not committed any act amounting to abetment. Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner by allowing this criminal petition.

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On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the petition stating that the allegations against the petitioner are serious in nature and that her custodial interrogation is required. Therefore, he prayed the Court to dismiss the criminal petition.

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In light of the submissions made by both learned counsel and upon a perusal of the material available on record, it appears that the petitioner was arrayed as accused No.2. The allegation against the petitioner is that accused No.1 took the deceased to the house of accused No.2, after which the deceased returned to her husband, and that accused Nos.1 and 2 took the gold ornaments of the deceased and harassed her. However, the remand report shows that the deceased never resided with the petitioner, who is a resident of Hyderabad, while the incident occurred at Mulkanoor Village. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court deems it fit to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner subject to the following conditions:

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i. The petitioner shall surrender before the Station House Officer, Mulkanoor Police Station, Warangal District, within two weeks from today, and on such surrender, the said Station House Officer shall release her on bail on executing a personal bond for Rs.25,000/- with two sureties, for the like sum each.

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ii. The petitioner shall abide by the other conditions stipulated in Section 482(2) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and co-operate with the Investigating Officer in investigating the case.

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iii. The petitioner shall appear before the concerned Investigating Officer on every Monday between 09:00 a.m, and 05:00 p.m., till the filing of the charge sheet and thereafter, as and when required.

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