The High Court · 2025

.. Respondents/Respondents Petition under section of BNSS praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of -528 .GrounJs "i'crriI"i'pltition, the High court mav be 'out"o pleased o vacate or set aside tne interim oroJr 1311212024 in crr.p.No. 15169 of 2024 since the.direction .i ;; ;;;;""action hampers the effecrive progress of the investigation,. particularlv ii*"'ir," petitioners have been non_ cooperative and absconding since tnu of the investigation, permit the investigating officer ,: "oinrun""n,'Jnt """"r.r.V' ,"r-1rr"r, including interrogation and custody of the petitioners as permitted uy tt irw to ensure a fair thorouoh, and expeditious investioation into ihe rrrrorr"ri'r.t. committed by them, dismiss " '|l1 'it. the quashing petition fiied oy ftre petition"r, - ' '" "' "i,,*ry, as it is devoid of merit and constitutes an abuse ot proc"s, oiia;. ^r_l*" ,fi CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 15819 OF 2024 Between:

1. Syed Habeeb, S/o. Syed Habeeb, Aged about4l years, Occ. Labour, Rt/o. Plot No.18, Roshan Colony, G.S. Gargah, Mailardevpally, Rajendranagar, Ranga Reddy District. (A-10)

2. Mohammed Nisar, Sio. Mohammed Abdul Raheem, Aged about 32 years, Occ.Labour, Ryo. 1-349/1 , Jalpally, Ranga Reddy District. (A-'12) ...PETITIONERYACCUSED AND 1 The State of Telangana, Rep by its Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad. 2 Krishna Subamanian, S/o. Subramanian Chidambaram, Aged about not known to the petitioner, Occ. Associate General Manager at Systems At Asian Paints Ltd., Rl/o. Asian Paints House, 64, Shanti Nagar, Santacruz (East), Mumbai - 500 055. ...RESPONDENTS/COM PLAINANTS 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 quash the proceedings in Crime No. 205 o'f 2024 of Mohammadabad Police Station, Mahabubnagar District against the petitioners, in the interest of Justice. l.A. NO: 2OF 2024 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 stay all further proceedings including investigation and arrest of the petitioners in Crime No. 205 ot 2024 of Mohammadabad Police Station, Mahabubnagar District, pending disposal of the criminal petition. l.A. NO: 2OF 2025 BETWEEN: Krishna Subamanian, S/o. Subramanian Chidambaram, Aged about not known to the petitioner, Occ. Associate General Manager at Systems At Asian Paints Ltd., F/o. Asian Paints House, 64, Shanti Nagar, Santacruz (East), Mumbai - 500 055. ... Petitioner/Respondent No.2 AND

1. Syed Habeeb, S/o. Syed Habeeb, Aged about 41 years, Occ. Labour, Fi/o. PIot No.1 8, Roshan Colony, G.S. Gargah, Mailardevpally, Rajendranagar, Ranga Reddy District. (A-10)

2. Mohammed Nisar, S/o. Mohammed Abdul Raheem, Aged about 32 yearc, Occ.Labour, R/o 1-349/1 , Jalpally, Ranga Reddy District. (A-12) ... Petitioners/Respondents

3. The State of Telangana, Rep by its Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad. ...Respondents/Respondents 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 vacate or set aside the interim order dated 3111212024 in Crl.P.No. 1 5819 of 2024 since the direction of no coercive action hampers the effective progress of the investigation, particularly since the petitioners have been non- cooperative and absconding since the commencement of the investigation, permit the investigating officer to take all necessary measures, including interrogation and custody of the petitioners as permitted by the law to ensure a fair thorough, and expeditious investigation into the fraudulent acts committed by them, dismiss the quashing petition filed by the petitioners in its entirely, as it is devoid of merit and constitutes an abuse of process of law. These Petitions coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petitions and upon hearing the arguments of Sri Ravinder Reddy Muppu, Advocate for the Petitioners in both CRLPs and Sri Jithender Rao Veeramalla, Additional Public Prosecutor on behalf of Respondent No.1 in both CRLPs and of Sri Saksham Gogia, Advocate for the Respondent No.2 in both CRLPS. The Court made the following: COMMON ORDER - THE HONOURABLE SRIJUSTICE N. TUKARAMJI CRIMINAL PETITION Nos.151 69 & 158 19 ot 2024 COMMO N ORDER: Criminal Petition Nos.1 5169 of 2024 and 1 5819 of 2024 are filed under Section 528 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita' 2023 (for short 'BNSS, 2023') lor quashment of the proceedings in Crime No.205 of 2024 of Mohammadabad Police Station' Mahabubnagar District against the petitioners' 2. Heard Mr. Muppu Ravinder Reddy, learned counsel for the petitionersandMr.JithenderRaoVeeramalla,learnedAdditional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent No' 1 -State' 3. The petitioners in Criminal Petition No'15169 of 2024 ate accused Nos.3, 7 and 9 and the petitioners in Criminal Petition No.'t5819 of 2024 are accused Nos.10 and 12 in Crime No'205 of 2024otMohammadabadPoliceStation,MahabubnagarDistrict' registered for the offences under Sections 403' 406' 409' 411' 413,415,418,42O,465,471, 120b r/w 34 of IPC' 4. The prosecution case in brief is that the complainant Company had floated a programme by the name'Masterstrokes' to increase their sales wherein the Company had printed QR CodesontheAsianpaintbucketsandifthepainters/ald"nts u 2 --II"--'t NJR.J . ( RI-Ps-li 169& 15819_2024, ] purchases those paint buckets they can redeem certain points in the related digital Application (App). lt has been alleged that the accused No.2 generated contractor lD in the Masterstrokes App with the help of accused No.'l and another purchased some buckets and redeemed those points to his account. Whereafter the accused No..l hatched a plan to earn easy money by creating fake QR Codes and collected some QR Codes from the Company buckets scanned under Google lens image search and identified 46 digits number and created new fake QR codes by using play store and QR code generate apps and redeemed money through accused No.2 and other persons. Later the accused No.1 gathered the other accused Nos.2 to 16 and by collecting their lDs and retracted some reward points by using the Masterstrokes App and gained about Rs.45,00,000/- without actual purchase of paint buckets of the Company. ln this course, the partner codes of other accused were pressed into service for the fraudulent transactions and the other accused also fraudulently redeemed the reward points into money. Further the investigation has revealed that accused No.1 and 2 got distributed money equally in phone pay transactions. '-f,r* 3 NI R.I CRLPi 15169&15819 l0lJ 5 Learned counsel for the petitioners would submit that the petitioners are innocent and are falsely implicated in the case. Even as per the complaint there was no dishonest intention from inception on the part of petitioners. Further no property was entrusted to them. As such application of offence of criminal breach of trust is unsustainable. The other allegations are punishable with imprisonment of below seven years. As such to protect their interests the investigating agency may be directed to issue Section 41-A of CrPC notice. 6. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor would contend that the allegations against the petitioners are specific and investigation has revealed their involvement and redemption of amounts from the company in online/digital transactions. Further the petitioners are agents of the de facto complainant company. As such the contest as to application of Section 409 of IPC at this stage cannot be considered. That apart, the petitioners are absconding and not available for investigation. Thus extending protection in any manner would be improper. Hence prayed for dismissal of the petitions. 7. The learned Senior Counsel for the respondent No.2 would contend that the remand repo( of the other accused is clearly l- 4 NI R.] CRI I's 15169&15819 2024' ..1 making out the fact that the petitioners are absconding from the judicial process which is elucidating lack of bona fides on the part of the petitioners. Hence the petitioners absolutely have no acceptable ground in seeking any remedy much less for quashment and for exercise of extraordinary jurisdiction He also pleaded that for the fraudulent acts of the petitioners and similar others misappropriated huge amounts and caused loss to the company. Furthermore, as the materials collected are showing prima facie case for trial, and the maximum punishment for alleged offences is up to ten years' granting any direction for issuance of notice would be improper' Hence prayed for I have perused the materials on record' dismissal of the Petition 8. 9. The prosecution case is prima facie making out that the petitioners are part of Masterstrokes programme of the Company and redeemed the amounts The accusation is that in earning points for redemption the QR Codes have been manipulated and thoseactionsandtransactionsareSupportedbydigitalrecord. Ontheotherhand,thepetitioners'defenceastoearningof rewardsandtheassertionthattheyarenoWayinvolvedinthe alleged offence requires detailed examination At this stage and in 5 NI'R I CRI-Ps 15169&lil319 1024 the light of the allegations and as to their involvement' drawing any conclusion in favour of the petitioners would not be proper and is premature. Above all, as per the prosecution the petitioners are avoiding judicial process. ln the circumstances' this Court finds no tenable ground to positively consider the petitions' ln this factual position and in the absence of merit, these petitions are liable to be and are accordingly dismissed' Pending miscellaneous applications, if any' shall stand closed MOHD. TSMAIL oepuwleGrbinan ,,rRUE coPY// se"Hf;ir.,"=* i The Soecial Judicial First Class Magistrate-cum-Mobile Court at Yii**'*'a:l$Ti'+i$:1#t"dim:1r::fJf i:r:1T;::3:::i i*o CC. to the Public Pros B'"'.""rs?ii?':t':*::i;lHo;:#;S;t'3,t""' One CC to Sri Saksham uc Two CD CoPies

2. J. 4 5 b I To, ADK/MAH I i 5 ;eEiIs.lr HIGH COURT DATED:1610412025 COMMON ORDER CRLP.Nos.15169 & 15819 ot 2024 c ,o C) oB 1HE S14 16 e (. OB JUt zffi t. !"r 61 1- r,, 1 _ DISMISSING THE BOTH CRLPs //t /g // ,/<1