Gundeti Ramu, v. The State Through The D.S.P., Acb, Karimnagar Range,

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT

HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.5728 of 2026 DATE: 20.04.2026 Between:

Gundeti Ramu

...Petitioner/Accused Officer No.1

AND The State through the D.S.P., ACB, Kaimnagar Ranga Rep By its Spl. Public Prosecutor, High Court at Hyderabad .... Respondent/Complainant

O R D E R

This Criminal Petition is filed before this Court for grant of bail to the Petitioner who is arrayed as Accused Officer No.1 in FIR No.5/RCO-ACB-KNR/2026 of ACB, Karimnagar Range, Karimnagar District, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 7(a) and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

2.

The case of the prosecution, is that, on 17.04.2025, the Director General, ACB, Telangana, having received information about the illegal misconduct of AO.1, forwarded a memorandum to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, ACB, Karimnagar, for enquiry and report. On receipt, the DSP endorsed the same to the Inspector of Police, for conducting

- 2 - enquiry and filing a report. During enquiry, it was revealed that a benami account bearing No.3368917747 of State Bank of India, Vaninagar, Jagtial, was linked to the mobile number of AO.2, who is a Government teacher and friend of AO.1 and number of suspicious transactions were noticed. It was further revealed that AO.1 misused his official position by engaging in corrupt practices and made a deal with one Gadamshetty Ramesh, who is doing jaggery business at Vemulawada and demanded bribe of Rs.10,000/- per month for smooth running of jaggery business. Accordingly, the present crime was registered against AO.1 and AO.2. 3.

Heard Sri C.Hari Preeth, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner as well as Sri M. Ramachandra Reddy, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent-State.

4.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is innocent of the allegations levelled against him. The petitioner is in jail since 18.03.2026 and the material part of the investigation was already completed. The statements of witnesses were recorded under Section 183 of BNSS on 18.04.2026. Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant bail to him by allowing this criminal petition.

- 3 - 5.

On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner stating that the allegations against the petitioner herein are heinous in nature and investigation is not completed, as such, at this stage, he is not entitled for the bail and prayed the Court to dismiss the criminal petition.

6.

In the light of the submissions made by both the learned counsel and upon perusal of the material available on record, it appears that the petitioner herein is in jail since 18.03.2026, the material part of the investigation was already completed and the statements of witnesses under Section 183 of BNSS were already recorded. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of the allegations, the stage of investigation, the duration of incarceration, this Court finds it appropriate to grant bail to the petitioner, subject to the following conditions:

i.

The petitioner-AO.1 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Fifteen Thousand only), with two sureties for a

- 4 - like sum each to the satisfaction of the Special Judge for SPE & ACB Cases at Karimnagar.

ii.

The petitioner-AO.1 shall appear before the concerned SHO at 11:00 a.m., on every Monday for a period of eight (8) weeks or till filing of charge sheet whichever is earlier, for the purpose of investigation, and thereafter, as and when required.

iii.

The petitioner-AO.1 shall abide by the conditions stipulated in Section 437(3) of Cr.P.C. (presently, Section 480(3) of the BNSS).

7.

Accordingly, the Criminal petition is allowed. Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.

_______________ K. SUJANA, J Date: 20.04.2026 mnv

- 5 - THE HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.5728 OF 2026 DATE : 20.04.2026 mnv