Andhra Pradesh High Court - Amravati
Yarajarla Venkata Siva Babu vs The State Of Andhra Pradesh on 10 February, 2023
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.RAGHUNANDAN RAO
CRIMINAL PETITION Nos.9914 & 9921 of 2022
COMMON ORDER:
As these two Criminal Petitions have been filed for
quashing interconnected complaints, it would be appropriate to
dispose of both these petitions together.
2. The background in which these petitions have been
filed is as follows:
A complaint was filed against the petitioners in
Crl.P.No.9921 of 2022 for offences under Sections 341, 384, 307
r/w 34 of I.P.C and Section 3(1)(r)(s), 3(2)(v) of SC ST (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act. This complaint was registered as Crime No.416
of 2022, on the file of Pedavegi Police Station, East Godavari
District on 05.12.2022.
3. The complaint in this case was that the petitioners
in Crl.P.No.9921 of 2022 had assaulted the de facto
complainant and others with an intention to kill the de facto
complainant on 04.12.2022. The petitioners are also said to
have abused the de facto complainant in the name of his
community.
4. Another complaint was given against the petitioners
in Crl.P.No.9914 of 2022, for offences under Sections 143, 448,
307, 324, 323, 506 (2) r/w 149 of I.P.C., on 05.12.2022 which
was registered as Crime No.638 of 2022 in Eluru II Town Police
Station, Eluru District. The allegation in this complaint was that
the persons who had been injured in the earlier incident were
being treated in a hospital when the petitioners in Crl.P.No.9914
of 2022 had come to the hospital and attacked the injured
persons with a view to kill them.
5. The petitioners have approached this Court for
quashing both the complaints on the ground that the said
complaints are false. Sri Posani Venkateswarlu, the learned
Senior Counsel appearing for Sri Sai Surya Teja in both the
petitions, would submit that it was the petitioners who had been
attacked by the de facto complainant and others in both the
cases and in fact one of the petitioners in the case had received
grievous injuries requiring stitches on the scalp of the said
person. Sri Posani Venkateswarlu would submit that a person
who required stitches on his scalp was clearly in no position to
have attacked anybody on that day and this solitary fact is
sufficient to show that both the complaints are false complaints
made against the petitioners on account of political differences
between the group of the de facto complainant and the
petitioners herein. Sri Posani Venkateswarlu would rely upon
the Judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in State of
Andhra Pradesh vs. Rayavarapu Punnayya and Another 1,
Hari Singh vs. Sukhbir Singh and Others2 and Hema Mishra
vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors3. The learned Senior
Counsel has also relied upon a Judgment of the erstwhile High
Court of Andhra Pradesh in K.Mallesham vs. State of Andhra
Pradesh4.
6. In the present case, the matter is still at the stage of
investigation and a question of whether the offences alleged in
the First Information Reports had been made out or not can only
be determined upon a proper investigation in the matter.
However, the fact that one of the petitioners himself had
suffered an injury on the scalp on account of being beaten on
the head, cannot be put aside.
7. The provisions of Section 41A of Cr.P.C are not
available in the present case on account of the provisions of
Section 307 of I.P.C being included in the First Information
Report. However, this Court would caution the investigating
officer to proceed with due care while contemplating any arrest
of the petitioners herein, in the course of investigation. Reasons
(1976) 4 SCC 382
(1988) 4 SCC 551
(2014) 4 SCC 453
(1998) 5 ALD 120.
are to be recorded before any arrests are undertaken in the
matter.
8. Subject to the aforesaid observations, investigation
in the case may go on.
9. Accordingly, these Criminal Petitions are disposed
of.
Miscellaneous petitions, pending if any, shall stand closed.
___________________________________
JUSTICE R.RAGHUNANDAN RAO
Date : 10.02.2023
RJS
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R.RAGHUNANDAN RAO
CRIMINAL PETITION Nos.9914 & 9921 of 2022
Date : 10.02.2023
RJS
