Baji Bujji Babu vs The State Of Telangana
2024 Latest Caselaw 2026 Tel

Citation : 2024 Latest Caselaw 2026 Tel
Judgement Date : 5 June, 2024

Telangana High Court

Baji Bujji Babu vs The State Of Telangana on 5 June, 2024

     THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE K. SUJANA

        CRIMINAL PETITION No.12189 of 2023


ORDER:

This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 482

of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short

'Cr.P.C.') by the petitioner/accused No.2 seeking to

quash the proceedings against him in FIR.No.06/RCO-

KMM/2022 on the file of the ACB Police Station,

Khammam Range, Khammam, for the alleged offence

punishable under Section7(a) of the Prevention of

Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) (for short

'Act, 2018').

2. The brief facts of the case are that the

respondent NO.2/de facto complainant who is the

working President of Wyra Tank Fish Society, lodged a

complaint stating that during second week of July, 2022,

the FDO Wyra, Bujji Babu, called the Fish Society and

informed that the fishing season got finished, as such, he

instructed the members not to go for fishing by duly

giving ten days grace time. However, he alleged that after

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about two days, one Mr.Murli, who worked in FDO

Officer, Wyra, informed the respondent No.2 that he

would have a conversation with the FDO, and that being

so, on the very next day itself, the FDO Wyra, instructed

the respondent No.2 to meet him at his office and

demanded a bribe of Rs.1,00,000/- to enable his Society

to continue fishing in off-season, upon which, after

pursing him for a while, the respondent No.2 offered to

pay an amount of Rs.30,000/- and ultimately, the said

Mr.Murli, agreed for an amount of Rs.50,000/- and the

said amount was paid to Mr.Murli through PhonePay.

Therefore, the respondent No.2 filed the complaint and

requested to take necessary action against Mr.Bujji

Babu, FDO Wyra, and Mr.Murli, Fisheries Assistant,

Wyra, Khammam.

3. On receipt of said complaint, the Police

investigated the matter and on completion of

investigation a charge sheet was filed against the

petitioner/accused for the punishable under Section 7(a)

of the Act, 2018. Aggrieved thereby, this Criminal

Petition is filed.

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4. Heard Sri GL.Narsimha Rao, learned counsel for

petitioner/accused, Sri S.Ganesh, learned Assistant

Public Prosecutor, appearing for the respondent No.1 -

State, and Sri Sridhar Chikyala, learned Standing

Counsel for ACB, appearing for respondent No.3. No

representation on behalf of respondent No.2/de facto

complainant.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted

that the petitioner possesses a clean and developmental

service record and has not received any memos or other

negative proceedings against him in his entire service

tenure. He contended that the antecedents of the

respondent No.2 would reveal that he is an active

member of ruling party and is having political touches

with the help of which he attempted to implicate the

petitioner in false case due to which the petitioner lost

his job at the tale of his superannuation service. He

further contended that the respondent NO.2 was

unaware of the fact that the said Mr.Murli was employed

on contract basis and the respondent NO.2 submerged

into his words and agreed to pay the bribe of Rs.50,000/-

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and accordingly, transferred the said amount into the

account of said Mr.Murli. Therefore, as there was a

monetary transaction only between the respondent NO.2

and the said Mr.Murli, the learned counsel asserted that

the petitioner is falsely implicated in this case. As such,

prayed this Court to allow the Criminal Petition by

quashing the proceedings against the petitioner.

6. On the other hand, the learned Assistant Public

Prosecutor, and learned Standing Counsel for ACB,

appearing for respondent Nos.1 and 3 submitted that

there are serious allegations against the petitioner with

regard to the bribe taken for the purpose of facilitating

fishing during off-season. Theyasserted that the

allegations leveled against the petitioner/accused require

full-fledged trial.Therefore, they prayed this Court to

dismiss the Criminal Petition.

7. Having regard to the rival submissions made

and on going through the material placed on record, it is

noted that the primary contention of petitioner/accused

is that he is not involved in the bribe taken by one

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Mr.Murli, whereas, the contention of respondent NO.2 is

that a bribe of Rs.50,000/- was paid in the PhonePay

account of Mr.Murli but there was active involvement of

petitioner as well in the said act of corruption. Perusal of

the record would reveal that the learned Standing

Counsel for ACB filed a copy of the statements recorded

under Section 164 of Cr.P.C., and the averments of the

same would disclose that the petitioner being part of the

said bribery could be placed as prime accused. That

apart, the issue as to whether the petitioner/accused in

collusion with Mr.Murli was part of the bribery can only

be decided after full-fledged trial.

8. At this stage, it is imperative to note that to

quash the proceedings under Section 482 of Cr.P.C., the

Court has to see whether the averments in the complaint

would prima facie show that the offence as alleged by the

Police constitutes.

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9. As per the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme

Court in the State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Surendra

Kori 1, paragraph No.14 reads as under:

"The High Court in exercise of its powers under

Section 482 Cr.P.C. does not function as a

Court of appeal or revision. This Court has, in

several judgments, held that the inherent

jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C., though

wide, has to be used sparingly, carefully and

with caution. The High Court, under Section

482 Cr.P.C., should normally refrain from

giving a prima facie decision in a case where

the entire facts are incomplete and hazy, more

so when the evidence has not been collected

and produced before the Court and the issues

involved, whether factual or legal, are of wide

magnitude and cannot be seen in their true

perspective without sufficient material."