High Court · 2025

1 r h e state "s s l ?.:13J,9,:,1 #r? at",i; ;t ",{3:?} "t rePresented bY Public 2. Sri. Praveen Bhongirr' S/ o Srinivas' Age- 39 Years Occ- The District Manager' Telangana state crvrt s'r1ipl;J'ffiilt;t'"" ii''t"o' Siooipet District' Siddipet ":.'t d i pet D i st r i ct' ...RESPONDENT/DEFACTO-COMPLAINANT Petition under Section 528 of BNSS qraYfS that in the circumstances stated i'etition' lhe Hiqh Court may be pleased in the Memorandum of o'*"it "ic'i''nar to quash the to quash tn""ij n llo' rze of 2025 of i s Gowraram' siddipet tirirlJl r. rgrinstthe petitioner/ Accused No 6' t.A. NO:2OF 2025 Petition under Section 528 of BNSS pIaYjlS that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of cr"r.oi-"icriminar'peiitlJn,the Hiqh court may be pleased Pleased to stay of all f"th;; ;;;;Jings inctuoing^arrest Jf the petitioner/ Accused No. 6 in F.l.R.No. lzl ot z6){,'-oi-p s do*t""m'-siddipet District' and to pass This Petition coming on for hearing'upon Grounds of Criminal Petition and upon hearing the SAI KRISHNA ,Advocate for the Petitioner and V' Prosecutor on behalf of the Respondent No'l and N02. The Court made the following: ORDER perusing the Memorandum of arguments of Sri KANDHIKATLA J ithender Rao Additional Public none appear for the ResPondent THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.TUKARAMJI CRIMIN AL PETITION N o.8421 0 F 2025 ORDER This Criminal petition is filed under Section S2B of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ,BNSS, 2023,) seeking quashment of the proceedings in Crime No.123 of 2025 of Gcwraram Police Station, Siddipet Dlstrict, against the petitioner.

2. The petitioner is accused No.6 in Crime No..l23 r.:f 2025 registered for the offences punishable under section s 420, 406 and 409 of the lndian penal Code, 1860 (for short,lpc,) and Section 7 of Essential Commodities Act,1955 (for short, ,EC Act,).

3. Heard Mr. K. Sai Krishna, learned counsel for the petiticrner and lVlr'Jithender Rao Veeramara, rearned Additionar pubric prosecutor representing the respondent No.1. 4' The prosecution case in brief is that the petitioner is the pzrrtner of Rice l\4ill under the name and styre of 'M/s. sri Sai Baba Binny [\4odern Rice Mill, Nacharam Village, Wargal Mandal, Siddipet Distri:t. The Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (for short, 'TGSCSCL') entered into agreement with the said firm for supplying of the paddy under custom lViiling Rice scheme for Rabi I\,4arketing Season 2022-23. On 06.02.2025, when the Vigilance and Enforcement 2 -- Nll(/ (.ri.l' Xo- 8121 rtl 202i Team conducted insPection in the said rice mill, they found variation of a Police Report was lodged against the 7043.70 Quintals' Thus' petitioner for misappropriation of stocks and violation of the agreement and for recovery of the amounts'

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that as per the agreement, the de facto complainant and petitioner would be in joint custody of the paddy' Further pleaded that the Government did not properly store the paddy and for natural reasons some of the quantity was damaged. Howsoever' as per the agreement' the dispute has to be placed before the Arbitrator and without such an effort' the Government on its own concluding misappropriation and initiating prosecution without any conclusive findings on relevant aspects alleging criminality is untenable That apart' the petitioner is ready to cooperate with the investigation and is intending to see the process through. He further pointed out that the coordinate Bench of this Court vide Criminal Petition Nos'1574' 1575 of 2025' 8g5 and 12037 ot 2024 held that Section 316(5) of BNS' 2023 would not attract in the circumstances of the case and directed the investigating agency for issuance of 35(3) of BNSS' 2023 nolice and to follow the guidelines 3 enunciated in Arnesh Kumar v. Sfafe of Biharl . granting similar relief to meet their hardship. .\'711./ ( ri.l'.^1,t. 811 I ol 202j Thus pleaded for

6. Learned Additional public prosecutor would submit that it is a clear case of misappropriation, the petitioner and similarly pli:ced other rice millers have caused loss of crores of rupees to the State irnd by the direction of issuance of notice, it is becoming difftcult in proceeding with the investigation for want of cooperation from the petitioner. Ihat apart, a Coordinate Bench of this Court in Crl.p.Nos.3 933 of 2024,3305 of 2024 and 3306 of 2024. having considered the submissions clismissed the criminal petitions. The petitioner herein is also facing self same accusations, therefore, pending investigation proceedings, this petition has to be dismissed Further submits that, if the Court considers otherwise, directing the petitioner for depositing considerabre amount against the complaint mentioned loss. 7 I have perused the materials on record B. Admittedry, the petitioner is partner of rice miil under thr-. name and style of 't\4/s. sri Sai Baba Binny t\Iodern Rice t\4iil,. rt is crear by the averments of the compraint that TGSCSCL Department had entered inlo agreement with tho petitioner for carrying out milling of paddy. ' (20t4) I scc 213 4 --- ,\lR./ (.1.1'.\o.3ll ol 20ii Further, in the complaint' the misappropriation has been alleged' Whereas the petitioner's plea of joint custody and the defences like natural decay, loss due to improper stocking of the materials are to be examined in the investigation ln such position' any direction to furnish security would be Premature' the Government's contract is

9. Further, having regard to the nature of the offences and depth of allegations against the petitioner and except the alleged offence under Section 409 of lPC, rest of the accusations are punishable with an conside:'ing the fact that the imprisonment upto seven year's and petitioner is partner of rice miil and in the society and the aspects disclosing petitioner's well rooted piace that the prosecution has nor. raised any impediment in securing the presence of the petitioner for investigation and the readiness of the without entering into petitioner to cooperate with the investigation ' merits and keeping all prerogatives of the investigation open and to maintain parity, directing the lnvestigating Agency for issuance of Section 35(3) of BNSS' 2023 notice on the petitioner in Crime No'123 ot 2O25and to adhere the guidelines of Arnesh Kumar v' State of Bihal befote proceeding against the petitioner' is found appropriate' Accordingly, ordered' ln unison' the petitioner is directed to submit (20i4) 8 scc 273 'z \ 7R,/ Lr,t.l).):c. Elt o/ 2t)2i explanation and materials, if any, and shall cooperate with the investigation 10 With this direction, this Criminal petition is disposed of. Pending mrscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand ,:losed ro, //rRUE COPYil SD/- MOHD.ISMAIL DEPUry REGISTRAR sEchdN oFFtcER

1. The Judicial First Ctass Magistrate Court At Gajwel 2 The station House officer,porice Station Gowraram,siddipet District 3. One CC to SRt. KANDHTKATLA SAt KRTSHNA Advocate tOpUCl 4. Two CC to SRt pUBLtC PROSECUTOR Advocate [OUT] 5. Two CD Copies AG HIGH COURT DATED:0 9tO7 t2O2S 7r,r{ IHE S Y.' T4 !- * \, 1 ti JUr 2025 .P z .c) * ,f--9 ORDER CRLP.No.8421 of 2025 CRLP IS DISPOSED OF €