GAADI APPARAO Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition is filed under Section 437 and 439 Cr.P.C to enlarge the petitioner/A.5 on bail in connection with Cr.No.228/2020 of Chilakaluripet Urban Police Station, Guntur District, registered for the offence punishable under Section 20(b)(c) read with 8(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as "NDPS Act, 1985").

(2.) The case of prosecution in nut-shell is that Chilakaluripet Urban Police Station, Guntur District police intercepted a lorry bearing registration No.TN 70 J 4491 on 26.07.2020 at 11 a.m at Chilakuripet Town and found A.1 and A.2 in the said lorry, who are its driver and cleaner. On search they found 14 bags of Ganja weighing 10 Kgs each aggregating to 140 Kgs, interrogated A.1 and A.2 and recorded their confessional statements in the presence of mediators, seized the contraband, arrested them and registered a case in above crime. As per F.IR besides the names of A.1 and A.2, the name of the lorry owner is mentioned as A.3. Though, it is mentioned that two other accused were also involved in this case, their names were not mentioned in the F.I.R or in their alleged confessional statements. A.1 and A.2 were sent to judicial custody on 27.07.2020. There are no particulars of other two persons said to have been involved in the said case, except Cell No. 7095696559, which is said to be belonged to one person with whom A.1 and A.2 said to have spoken on 25.07.2020 at 4 p.m at the outer ring road at Visakhapatnam. The S.I of Police, Chilakaluripet P.S came to the field of petitioner/A5 at Bylapudi Village, Cheedikada Mandal, Visakhapatnam District at about 6.00 p.m on 28.07.2020 in Mahindra SUV 500 bearing No.AP 39 1314 and without any intimation to his son and another person present by the side of petitioner, abducted and arrested the petitioner without any intimation. The Sub-Inspector of Police and others were in civil dress and said that they are the police of Chilakuripet Urban Police Station. But, they did not release the petitioner nor produced him before any Court for four days and the petitioner was kept in illegal custody. Hence, on 01.08.2020 the son of the petitioner has filed Writ Petition No.13202 of 2020 before this Court seeking Habeas Corpus, where the police represented that they arrested the petitioner on 31.07.2020 as A5 in the above crime and produced him before the learned Additional Junior Civil Judge, Chilakaluripet and sent him to judicial custody on the same day. Later, Crl.M.P.No.1054 of 2020 was filed for grant of bail before the learned I Additional Sessions Judge-cum-Special Court for NDPS Cases, which was ended in dismissal on 18.08.2020.

(3.) The main contention of petitioner/A.5 is that nothing was recovered from him, except recording Cell No. 7095696559 in the mediator's report. As such, it is clear that the petitioner/A.5 has nothing to do with the above case and that he is falsely implicated in this case.