Telangana High Court
Smt. Banyan Susheela And 4 Others vs The State Of Telangana And Another on 3 January, 2022
Bench: K.Lakshman
THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K. LAKSHMAN
CRIMINAL PETITION No.10240 of 2021
ORDER:
The present Criminal Petition is filed under Section - 482 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short 'Code'') to quash
the proceedings in D.V.C. No.24 of 2021 on the file of II
Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Nizamabad. The
petitioners herein are respondents in the said DVC. The said DVC
is filed by respondent No.2 herein under Section - 12 of the
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (for short
'Act, 2005') against the petitioners seeking various reliefs.
2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned
Assistant Public Prosecutor appearing on behalf of respondent No.1
- State. Perused the record.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioners would submit that the
petitioners herein never harassed the 2nd respondent as alleged by
her in the complaint. The 2nd respondent falsely implicated the
petitioners in the present case. He would further submit that 1st
petitioner herein is mother/R.2, 2nd petitioner is brother/R.4, 3rd
petitioner is sister-in-law/R.5 and petitioner Nos.4 and 5/R.6 and
R.7 are married sisters of R.1 respectively. There are no
allegations, much less specific allegations against the petitioners. In
view of the same, he sought to quash the proceedings in the said
DVC by dispensing with their presence before the trial Court.
4. On the other hand, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor
would submit that there are specific allegations made against the
petitioners by the 2nd respondent in the complaint filed under
Section - 12 of the Act, 2005 and that the petitioners shall co-
operate in concluding the trial before the Court below. In view of
the same, he sought to dismiss the present petition.
5. As per the contents of the petition filed under Section - 12
of the Act, 2005, the marriage of R.1 with the 2nd respondent was
performed on 02.02.1995. After marriage, the petitioners herein
started harassing the 2nd respondent.
6. In this regard, it is apt to refer to the decision rendered by
a learned Single Judge of High Court of Judicature for the States of
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in Giduthuri Kesari Kumar v.
State of Telangana1, which is as under:
"14) To sum up the findings:
i) Since the remedies under D.V. Act
are civil remedies, the Magistrate in view of his
powers under Section 28(2) of D.V Act shall
issue notice to the parties for their first
appearance and shall not insist for the
attendance of the parties for every hearing and
in case of non-appearance of the parties despite
receiving notices, can conduct enquiry and pass
exparte order with the material available. It is
only in the exceptional cases where the
Magistrate feels that the circumstance require
. 2015 (2) ALD (Crl.) 470 (AP)
that he can insist the presence of the parties
even by adopting coercive measures.
ii) In view of the remedies which are in civil
nature and enquiry is not a trial of criminal case,
the quash petitions under Sec.482 Cr.P.C. on
the plea that the petitioners are unnecessarily
arrayed as parties are not maintainable. It is
only in exceptional cases like without there
existing any domestic relationship as laid
under Section 2(f) of the D.V. Act between the
parties, the petitioner filed D.V. case against
them or a competent Court has already
acquitted them of the allegations which are
identical to the ones leveled in the Domestic
Violence Case, the respondents can seek for
quashment of the proceedings since
continuation of the proceedings in such
instances certainly amounts to abuse of process
of Court."
7. In the present case, the 2nd petitioner herein is aged
mother of R.1, therefore, it is difficult for her to attend the Court on
each date of hearing. Even the allegations made in the complaint
against the petitioners herein are general in nature.
8. Considering the said facts and also in view of the
principle laid down in the above judgment, this Court is inclined to
dispense with the presence of the petitioners in the DVC
proceedings.
9. In view of the above discussion, the present Criminal
Petition is disposed of, dispensing with personal appearance of
petitioners herein in D.V.C. No.24 of 2021 on the file of II
Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Nizamabad. However, it
is made clear that the proceedings may go on against the respondent
No.1 in DVC No.24 of 2021.
10. As a sequel, miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in
the Criminal Petition shall stand closed.
__________________
K. LAKSHMAN, J
Date: 03.01.2022
dv
