Pulikanti Sreenu v. State Of Telangana

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA

AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.16166 of 2025 DATE: 23.12.2025 BETWEEN:

Pulikanti Sreenu .....petitioner/accused And The State of Telangana, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad.

.....Respondent/complainant

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 in Crime No.113 of 2025 before the Neredugommu

Police Station, Nalgonda District, registered for the offences punishable under Section 69 of BNS.

2.

The case arose from a telugu written complaint lodged on 26.11.2025 by the de-facto complainant, stating that her daughter Manjula, aged 21 years, went missing from their house on the morning of 24.11.2025. Initially, the police registered Crime No.113 of 2025 at Neredgommu Police Station as a woman missing case. Subsequently, after recording the statement of the alleged victim, the police altered the section of law to Section 69 of the BNS and proceeded with the investigation.

3.

Heard Sri Rajashekar Reddy Jelala, 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.

4.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was falsely and maliciously implicated without any proper investigation and that the allegations were baseless and unsupported by any material evidence and that the

petitioner was a law-abiding citizen, had no role in the alleged offence, and there were no reasonable grounds to believe his involvement. He further submitted that the petitioner had a permanent residence, posed no risk of absconding, would not influence witnesses or tamper with evidence, and was ready to cooperate with the investigation. Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant pre-arrest 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 stating that the allegations leveled against the petitioner are serious in nature. Further, the investigation was not yet completed. Therefore, at this stage, granting of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner does not arise. Hence, he prayed the Court to dismiss the criminal petition. 6.

In the light of the submissions made by the learned counsel on both sides and upon a perusal of the material available on record, it appears that the case was initially registered as a woman missing case and the section of law was altered only after recording the statement of the alleged victim. The material placed before this Court does not, at this

stage, disclose any forcible act or coercion attributable to the petitioner, and the alleged victim is a major aged 21 years. There is no material to show that the petitioner is likely to abscond or interfere with the course of investigation, and the investigation can proceed without subjecting the petitioner to custodial interrogation.

Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court deems it fit to grant prearrest bail to the petitioner, subject to the following conditions:

i.

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

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.

iii.

The petitioner shall appear before the concerned Investigating Officer on every Monday between 09:00 a.m, and 05:00 p.m., for a period of eight weeks or till the filing of the charge sheet, whichever is earlier and thereafter, as and when required.

7.

Accordingly, this Criminal Petition is allowed. Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.

_______________ K. SUJANA, J Date: 23.12.2025 SAI

THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.16166 of 2025 Date: 23.12.2025 SAI