Sri. Ragala Venkata Vishwa Teja vs The State Of Telangana
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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.

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.

(2020) 3 ALT (Cri) 302

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