Andhra Pradesh High Court - Amravati
Patibandla Gopala Swamy vs The State Of Andhra Pradesh on 22 August, 2022
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI
CRIMINAL PETITION No.6227 OF 2022
ORDER:
This Criminal Petition under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short "Cr.P.C."), is filed by the petitioners/A-11 and A-12, seeking to grant pre-arrest bail in Crime No.41 of 2021 of Special enforcement Bureau, Narsaraopet, Guntur District, registered for the offence punishable under Section 34(a) and 50B(a) of A.P.Excise (Amendment) Act, 2020.
2. The case of the prosecution in brief is that on 23.03.2021 at about 4.30 AM, the Enforcement officials along with mediators reached the scene of offence and while they were checking the vehicles coming from Sattenapalli towards Narasaropet, the police noticed one Bolero pick-up vehicle and two bikes and stopped the same. On seeing the police, two persons ran away and escaped from the scene. The police apprehended two persons and on interrogation, they revealed that they are transporting liquor bottles. On search, the police found total 8246 liquor bottles. Thereafter, the police seized the contraband and arrested the said two persons, under the cover of meditors report. Basing on the said mediators report, the present crime was registered. The arrested accused revealed the role of present petitioners, as such, they are arrayed as A-11 and A-12 in this case.
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3. Heard Ms.Ayesha Azma, learned counsel representing Sri V.Nitesh, learned counsel for the petitioners and Sri Soora Venkata Sainath, learned Special Assistant Public Prosecutor for the respondent-State.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners, in elaboration, contended that the petitioners have been falsely implicated in the present case and their names are not shown in the mediators report as well as in the FIR. She further contended that nothing was seized from the possession of the petitioners and only basing on the confession statement of arrested accused, the petitioners are arrayed as accused. She further contended that the details of the petitioners such as father's name, surname, age and residential address are not shown in the record and the name of the 2nd petitioner herein is shown as "Challapalli Gopinath" in some places of the Case Diary. Hence, the petitioners are apprehending arrest as such, she would pray for grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioners.
5. On the other hand learned Special Assistant Public Prosecutor contended that the names of the petitioners came into light basing on the confession statements of other accused He submits that as the petitioners have paid Rs.20,000/- by way of of Phone-Pay and purchased the liquor, their involvement in the present crime is very much established and that if the petitioners are released on pre-arrest bail, they may not cooperate with the investigation.
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6. In Bullu Das Vs. State of Bihar1, while dealing with the confessional statements made by the accused persons before a police officer, the Supreme Court held as under:
"7. The confessional statement, Ex. 5, stated to have been made by the appellant was before the police officer in charge of the Godda Town Police Station where the offence was registered in respect of the murder of Kusum Devi. The FIR was registered at the police station on 8-8-1995 at about 12.30 p.m. On 9-8- 1995, it was after the appellant was arrested and brought before Rakesh Kumar that he recorded the confessional statement of the appellant. Surprisingly, no objection was taken by the defence for admitting it in evidence. The trial court also did not consider whether such a confessional statement is admissible in evidence or not. The High Court has also not considered this aspect. The confessional statement was clearly inadmissible as it was made by an accused before a police officer after the investigation had started."
7. Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case and on perusal of the material available on record, the names of the petitioners were not properly mentioned in the mediators report and they are arrayed as accused only basing on the confession statements of other accused and further as substantial investigation is completed, this Court is inclined to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioners, however taking due care of the apprehension of the learned Special Assistant Public Prosecutor on certain conditions:
In the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed on the following conditions.
(i) The petitioners/ A-11 and A-12 shall be released on bail in the event of their arrest in Crime No.41 of 2021 of Special 1 (1998) 8 SCC 130 4 enforcement Bureau, Narsaraopet, Guntur District, on their executing self bonds for Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) each with two sureties each for a like sum each to the satisfaction of the Station House Officer, Special enforcement Bureau, Narsaraopet, Guntur District;
(ii) The petitioners shall appear before the Station House Officer, Special enforcement Bureau, Narsaraopet, Guntur District, thrice in a week i.e. on every Monday, Thursday and Sunday between 9.00 AM and 12.00 noon till filing of the charge sheet; and
(iii) The Petitioners shall co-operate with the investigation and shall appear before the Investigation Officer as and when their presence is required. Petitioners shall not influence the witnesses or tamper with the prosecution evidence.
Further, the petitioners shall scrupulously comply with the above conditions and any infraction of the same will be viewed seriously and bail automatically gets cancelled without any further order of this Court.
Miscellaneous applications, pending if any, shall stand closed.
________________________________ JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI Dated 22.08.2022 KA 5 THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI 6 CRIMINAL PETITION No.6227 OF 2022 Date : 22.08.2022 KA