Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has rejected the bail plea of Vasamsetti Naresh, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the illegal manufacturing of alprazolam, a psychotropic drug, in one of the state’s largest narcotics cases1.
Case background
The case dates back to 2016 when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) apprehended the prime accused, Bandaru Hanumanth Reddy, with 132 kg of alprazolam-far exceeding the commercial quantity threshold of 100 grams set under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Reddy had illicitly produced the drug at Venkata Raghava Labs (VRL) in Jinnaram mandal, Medak district, after leasing equipment from the facility. He hired Naresh, who had prior experience working at Manaswini Pharma in Hindupur Thumkunta Industrial Area, along with another individual, to assist in the operation1.
All three were convicted and handed 10-year sentences by a Sangareddy court in 20221.
Bail plea and court’s reasoning
Naresh subsequently filed a bail petition, arguing that he had only assisted in the laboratory work without knowledge of the criminal intent behind the operation. However, Justice K Lakshman, presiding over the case, dismissed the plea, emphasizing the gravity of the offense and the large quantity of drugs involved1.
The court cited Section 37 of the NDPS Act, which stipulates that bail can only be granted if the court is satisfied there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and is unlikely to commit any offense while on bail.
Justice Lakshman noted that Naresh had been in jail for 23 months, but clarified that serving part of the sentence alone is not sufficient grounds for bail in such serious cases.
