Pantala Durga Prasad v. The State Of Telangana

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA

AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE SUDDALA CHALAPATHI RAO CRIMINAL PETITION No.7966 of 2026 BETWEEN:

Pantala Durga Prasad.

...Petitioner/Accused No.2

AND The State of Telangana, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court at Hyderabad through P.S. Ameenpur, Hyderabad ... Respondent/Complainant O R D E R :

This Criminal Petition is filed under Sections 480 and 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short "BNSS") seeking bail for the petitioner, who is arrayed as accused No.2 in Crime No.175 of 2026 on the file of the Ameenpur Police Station, Cyberabad Commissionerate, registered for offences punishable under Sections 8(c) r/w 20(b)(ii)(B) and 27(a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short "NDPS Act").

2.

The brief facts of the case are that, on 14.03.2026, acting on credible information received from the SOT, Serilingampally, the police of Ameenpur Police Station conducted a raid at House No.3-17, Ailapur Thanda, in the presence of panch witnesses. During the search, 61 grams of Hashish Oil and 1 gram of MDMA were allegedly recovered from the premises occupied by accused Nos.1 to 3. The contraband, along with certain drug-related articles and mobile phones belonging to the accused, were seized under a panchanama. The accused allegedly confessed procuring and possessing the narcotic substances, and urine tests conducted on them reportedly yielded positive results. On the basis of the said complaint, the police registered a case against the petitioner/Accused No.2 and other accused persons for the aforementioned offences.

3.

Heard Mr. Mohd Afzaluddin, learned counsel for the petitioner/Accused No.2 and Mr. Jithender Rao Veeramalla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the respondent-State. 4.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been in judicial custody since 14.03.2026 and is innocent of the said allegations. It is further submitted that the seized contraband, namely, 61 grams of Hashish Oil and 1 gram

of MDMA, is an intermediate quantity and does not attract Section 37 of the NDPS Act. It is further submitted that there are no criminal antecedents against the petitioner. Therefore, he prayed this Court to grant bail to the petitioner by allowing this Criminal Petition.

5.

On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, and prayed this Court to dismiss the Criminal Petition. However, he informed this Court that there are no criminal antecedents against the petitioner.

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 has been in judicial custody since 14.03.2026 and that the material part of the investigation is already completed. Further, the contraband seized from the possession of the petitioner is 61 grams of Hashish Oil and 1 gram of MDMA, which is an intermediate quantity. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of the allegations, the stage of investigation, and the duration of incarceration, this Court finds it appropriate to grant bail to the petitioner/accused No.2, subject to the following conditions:

(i) The petitioner/accused No.2 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty-Five Thousand only) each, with two sureties for a like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned I Additional District and Sessions Judge, Sangareddy, Sangareddy District.

(ii) After release, the petitioner/accused No.2 shall appear before the concerned SHO between 10:00 a.m. and 02.00 p.m., on every Sunday for a period of four (4) weeks or till filing of the charge sheet, whichever is earlier, for the purpose of investigation, and thereafter, as and when required, and shall co-operate with the investigation.

(iii) The petitioner/accused No.2 shall abide by the conditions stipulated in Section 437(3) of Cr.P.C. (presently, Section 480(3) of the BNSS).

(iv) The petitioner/accused No.2 shall not tamper with the investigation.

(v) In the event, the petitioner is found to be involved in any other offence subsequent to the grant of bail, the respondent-Police authorities are at liberty to seek cancellation of the bail order.

7.

Accordingly, the Criminal petition is allowed.

Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.

________________________________________ JUSTICE SUDDALA CHALAPATHI RAO Date: 04.06.2026 mvm