The single judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that unless the prohibited lists of properties were communicated to the Sub-Registrar, no ordinary prudent man could have knowledge about the properties of prohibited lists. The Court granted anticipatory bail to the Petitioner who purchased the property 22 years ago which was prohibited from registration.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that District Registrar lodged a report in which it was stated that he received a complaint from one M.Radha Krishna and it was alleged that the land which is prohibited from registration and the same is registered by several individuals under various documents to different individuals including the petitioner herein and requested to take action against the Sub-Registrar and document writers who were involved in the said transactions. Upon receiving the information, the FIR was registered under Sections 403, 420, 409, 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code (for short ‘the IPC’). The present petition is filed under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to grant anticipatory bail to the Petitioner.
Contentions of the Petitioner
The Petitioner contended that the Petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case and the Petitioner is a woman aged about 62 years.
Observations of the Court
The Hon’ble Court observed that no reasonable person could possibly know the properties of prohibited lists unless the Sub-Registrar was informed of the lists. Nothing on record would imply that the sales transactions held in the petitioner's favor are fraudulent and fabricated. The petitioner cannot be arrested under the case's stated circumstances after 22 years of transactions. As the transactions fall under the registered transactions, there is currently no way to alter the record. It cannot be argued that the petitioner's transactions are false in order to undermine the State's interest in the absence of prima-facie evidence in the record demonstrating that the properties on the forbidden lists are conveyed to the Sub-Registrar.
Based on these considerations, the court granted anticipatory bail to the accused.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court allowed the criminal petition.
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice T. Mallikarjuna Rao
Case No.: CRIMINAL PETITION No.1873 of 2024
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