Telangana High Court
Sri. Ragala Venkata Vishwa Teja vs The State Of Telangana on 6 June, 2024
THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA
CRIMINAL PETITION No.5957 of 2024
ORDER:
In this Criminal Petition, the petitioner/accused No.1 is challenging the order, dated 27.12.2023 passed by XV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Hyderabad in Crl.M.P.No.3895 of 2023 in C.C.No.5996 of 2022, whereby the petition filed by the petitioner seeking to recall NBW issued against him in his absence, was allowed with certain conditions.
2. Heard Sri J. Srinivas, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri S.Ganesh, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor for respondent No.1 - State.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner filed the said Criminal M.P., under Section 70 (2) of Criminal Procedure Code, to recall NBW issued against the petitioner/accused No.1 in his absence. The trial Court, while allowing the said Criminal M.P., directed the petitioner to deposit his original passport before the Court at the time of furnishing sureties and that the petitioner/accused No.1 shall himself appear before the trial Court or through his counsel till disposal of the case. Aggrieved by the same, the present petition is filed. 2
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner relied upon the judgment of the Hon'ble High Court of Andhra Pradesh in Y.Usha Cayatri Vs. State of A.P. Women P.S. Visakhapatnam 1, which reads as under:
" In our opinion, even the Court cannot impound a passport. Though, no doubt, Section 104 Cr.P.C. states that the Court may, if it thinks fit, impound any documents or thing produced before it, in our opinion, this provision will only enable the Court to impound any document or thing other than a passport."
"In the light of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court, neither the Police nor the Courts have power to seize the passport or to direct the accused to deposit or surrender the passport even when a criminal case is pending in the Court of law and only the Passport Officer is the competent authority to impound the passport".
5. In view of the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner/accused No.1 is directed to surrender before the trial Court and on such surrender, the trial Court is directed to recall the N.B.W. issued against the petitioner/accused No.1 on the same day on him furnishing an undertaking to appear before trial Court as and when required. Till such surrender of the petitioner, the N.B.W. issued against the petitioner shall not be executed.
1 (2020) 3 ALT (Cri) 302 3
6. With the above directions, the Criminal Petition is disposed of.
Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.
_______________ K. SUJANA, J Date: 06.06.2024 dsu