High Court of State Of Telangana · 2025

Petition under section 528 of BNSS praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminal petition, the High court may be pleased to call for the records relating to cc No.360oF2o24 on-the file of the I Additional Judicial First-class Magistlate at Koilapur and quash the same against the Petitioner / Accused No. t herein. l.A. NO: 2 OF 2 025 Petition under section 482 of cr p-c praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminil petition, the High court may pl"g:"d to grant of stay of ail further proceedings incruding tne a-ppearance or 9" the Petitioner in cc.No.3600F zo24 on the fite oi the Additional iudiciat First_ Class Magistrate at Kollapur pending disposal of the quash petition. This Petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Memorandum of Grounds of criminal Petition and upon hearing the arguments of sri M s ACHYUTH BHARTHWAJ, Advocate for the petitioner and sri Jithender Rao Veeramalla, the Additional public prosecutor .rrr behalf of the Respondent No..l and none appeared for the Respondent No.2. The Court made,the following: ORDER THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.TUKARAMJI CRIMINAL PETITION No.6373 OF 2rI:! 1 I ORDER This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 5;18 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short 'the ENSS') seeking quashment of the proceedings in C.C.No.360 of 2(t24 on the file of the Additional Judicial First Class Magistr rte, Kollapur, Mahabubnagar District against the petitioner.

2. I have heard Mr. Achyuth Bharathwaj, learne,J counsel for the petitioner and Mr.Jithender Rao Veeramalla, leitrned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent No.1 State

3. The petitioner is arrayed as an accused No 1 in C.C.No.360 of 2025 for the offences under Sections 85, 1 1 8(1 ), 352 ot Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,2023 (tor short'the BNS') and Ser;tons 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act (for short'the DP Act'). 4 (a) The prosecution's case, in brief is that :n 18.08.2024, Respondent No. 2 lodged a police complaint allegtn 3 that she was legally married to the petitioner, and from the said r nion, they had tvvo sons and two daughters. From the outset of tre marriage, the petitioner allegedly subjected her to persistent ment:l and physical 2 MT&J {RLP 6373 x)5 harassrnent, primarily fueled by unfounded suspicions regarding her frdelity.

4.(b). ln addition to verbal abuse and derogatory behaviour, the petitioner purportedly pressured her to vacate the malrimonial home. lt is further alleged that the petitioner's brother, sister, and sister-in-law also harassed her by making abusive rernarks and persistently demanding additional dowry.

4.(c). The petitioner is accused of intensifying the harassment by installing closed-circuit cameras (CCTV) to monitor her movements within the home, thereby invading her privacy and causing psychotogical distress. Alarmingly, he is also alleged to have taken inappropriate and invasive photographs of her private parts without consent.

4.(d). Moreover, the petitioner frequently assaulted the complainant, reiterating demands for additional dowry from her parental family. The harassment allegedly culminated on

12.08.2024, when the petitioner reportedly beat her, thrashed her, struck her with an iron rod, and physically expelled her from the house, resulting in physical injuries. Due to the prolonged and unbearable acts of cruelty and abuse, the complainant was 3 N]R,,) CRLP 6371 2025 compelled to leave the marital horne and take re fuge with her parents_

5.(a). Learned counsel for the petitioner cortended that the allegations made against the petitioner are vague ard omnibus in nature. lt was argued that the statements recorded by the police from the relatives of the complainant are stereotynical and lack individual specificity. The materials gathered durin,; the course of the investigation, it was submifted, do not fulfirl the essential ingredients of the offences alleged. 5 (b) Reliance was placed on several jucgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court wherein it has been categc r cally held that proceedings under Section 498-4 of the lndian penll Code (lpC) must be pursued with circumspection and should not rroceed in the absence of substantive evidence. According to th€) oetitioner, the evidentiary material produced by the investigating ag,:ncy cloes not disclose a prima facie case against him. 5 (c). Additionally, it was contended that the statutory provisions invoked are not supported by the materials. on record. ln particular, the medical report relied upon by the prose:ution reveals only simple injuries sustained by Respondent No. :t Hence, the . continuation of criminal proceedings against the pe ritioner would 4 Mr&l cRlP 6373-202s amount to an abuse of the process of law. On these grounds, the petitioner prayed for quashing of the proceedings. 6.(a). The Leamed Additional Public Prosecutor, opposing the petition, submitted that the averments made in the police report are duly corroborated by the evidence collected during the investigation. It is further submitted that the allegations of harassment for additional dowry are substantiated by the consistent statements and corroborative evidence obtained.

6.(b). With regard to the incident dated 12.08.2024, il was submitted that Respondent No. 2 underwent medical treatment at the Area Hospital, and the medical report issued by the Medical Officer confirms the presence of injuries on her person. This, according to the prosecution, supports the claim of physical assault. It was also emphasized that the trial Court, at the stage of framing charges, is empowered to evaluate the applicability of the relevant penal provisions and may, if necessary, alter or recast the charges at any stage of the proceedings in accordance with law. Therefore, the petitioner's contention that the penal sections applied are not appropriate is not a valid ground for quashing the proceedings. 6.(c) it is argued that any premature interference by quashing the ln view of the evidence establishing a prima facie case, l ,| 5 NTR,] CRLP 6371 2025 proceedings would cause serious prejudice to the pr:secution and undermine the process of justice. Accordingly, th,) prosecution prayed for dismissal of the petition. I have perused the materials on record.

7. 8. The petitioner does not dispute the existenrx, of a marital relationship with Respondent No.2. The averments r;cntained in the police report clearly indicate allegations of both physical and mental harassment, based on suspicions regarding the respcndent,s fidelity and persistent demands for additional dowry. 9. Furthermore, the petitioner has specifically .eferred to the incident dated '12.08.2024, and the materials colleotl)d during the course of the investigation substantiate the claim thar Respondent No. 2 sustained injuries as a result of that incident. The medical evidence is pnma facie supporting this assertion. 10 lt is a well-established principle of law that the t.uthfulness or veracity of the statements made by the complainant and witnesses is not to be adjudicated at the stage of considerinly a petition for quashment of the criminal proceedings. ln li3trt of these considerations, and given that the contested allegatio rs disclose a prima faae case against the petitioner, this Court f nds that the ( ( I I I I 6 NTR,] cRrP_6173_2025 invocation of its inherent powers to quash the proceedings at this preliminary stage is not warranted. !

11. For the aforesaid, the criminal petition is liable to be and is accordingly dismissed Miscellaneous petitions, pending if any, shall stand closed To, SD/- . BHAVANI SWAMY SI TANT REG ISTRA T'TRUE COPY// CTION OFFICER .1 . The Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class Kollapur' Nagarkurnool District

2. The station House officer, Police station, Kodair, Nagarkurnool District 3 One CC to SRl. M S ACHYUTH BHARTHWAJ Advocate [OPUC] 4,TwocCStothePUBLICPRoSECUToR,HighCourtatHyderabad'(oUT) s. Two CD CoPies f PK/sh p HIGH COURT DATED:0710712025 l ORDER 17 0F lm I \i. CRLP.No.6373 of 2025 D.'. {.;i,.:\: CRIMINAL PETITION IS DISMISI}ED ; i I I I I t 1 E ! i I t I t: I t I I I t I ! I t E E l I I I E I I i I I I I I r a ^