Telangana High Court
Vachana Ranjitha Chowdary vs The State Of Telangana, on 31 January, 2025
THE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR JUKANTI
CRIMINAL PETITION No.860 OF 2025
O R D E R:
This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 528 of
the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (for short 'BNSS')
by petitioner/accused No.4 to quash the proceedings
against her in FIR.No.492 of 2024 before P.S.Godavari
Khani I Town, Ramagundam CP on the file of I Additional
Junior Civil Judge, Godhavari Khani, Peddapalli. The
offences alleged against petitioners are under Sections 85
r/w 3(5) of Indian Penal Code (for short 'IPC') and Section 4
of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
2. Heard Mr. Abhinav Mahender Reddy Kandadi,
learned counsel for the petitioner and Ms. S.Madhavi,
learned Assistant Public Prosecutor for the respondent -
State. Perused the material on record.
3. Respondent No.2/de-facto complainant was married
to one Mr. V.Ajay Ram on 21.02.2019 and at the time of
marriage, certain gold, silver, household articles and
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certain amount of cash was given as dowry as per the
complaint. Respondent No.2 was residing in Jagdevpur
along with her husband and in-laws and it is alleged that
she was harassed mentally and physically by demanding
additional dowry. It is also alleged that against her wish
her husband move to Italy, leaving her in India and that in-
laws and petitioner herein, residents of Bangalore, are
provoking her husband by phone for not fulfilling their
demand for additional dowry. It is further stated that
counseling was held by family members and elders, yet
there was no respite from the demands. Hence, FIR.
4. Initially, FIR/complaint was lodged on 06.07.2024 in
PS Karimnagar and vide memo dated 02.09.2024 the said
CD file in Crime No.46 of 2024 stood transferred to PS
Godhavari Khani I Town of Ramagundam Commissionerate
for further investigation.
5. Learned counsel for petitioner submitted that
petitioner was resident of Bangalore for more than 10 years
and pursuing a job in Bangalore. It is submitted that
petitioner could have been indicted in the complaint as she
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was pursuing her job in Bangalore and there is no way that
she could have mentally and physically harassed the
respondent No.2 and that allegations are omnibus
allegations against the petitioner and her parents. It is
further submitted that marriage of respondent No.2 with
V.Ajay Ram was commitment marriage and that in
commitment marriages, there is prohibition of dowry at the
time of marriage and that the allegations are false in
nature.
6. Learned counsel invited the attention of this Court to
Page No.26 wherein it is indicated that husband of de-facto
complaint stayed in India for a period of one week only and
left the country after the marriage and that allegations are
false in nature as the marriage was performed on
21.02.2019 and that there is no amount of truth and
allegations levelled by respondent No.2 with respect to
dowry harassment and physical harassment as stated in
the complaint are false.
7. On the other hand, learned Assistant Public
Prosecutor submitted that there are allegations of extra
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dowry being demanded and petitioner along with her
parents harassed the de-facto complainant mentally and
physically and it is case where such facts have to be
elicited at the time of trial and no interference is
necessitated and on the basis of complaint, crime is
registered and it is at the investigation stage.
8. Perused the record, considered the submissions.
9. The marriage of de-facto complainant was performed
with one Mr. V.Ajay Ram on 21.02.2019 and her husband
left the country on 28.02.2019 as per the documents
annexed at Page No.26 along with criminal petition. On a
perusal of complaint/FIR annexed at Page No.22, it is
observed that there are no specific allegations against the
petitioner about the physical and mental harassment of de-
facto complainant. Husband of de-facto complainant left
the country, leaving her in India and that her in-laws and
petitioner herein have been instigating her husband for
additional dowry and that her husband harassing her
mentally and physically over phone. It is defies the logic of
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this Court that how a person can harass physically by
phone as far as from Italy.
10. Be that as it may, it is not in dispute that petitioner
is a resident of Bangalore, pursuing her employment or job
at Bangalore. The Apex Court in a catena of judgments in
such nature of cases held that Courts before embarking
upon the issues have to take an overall perspective of the
case and then arrive at a conclusion. On a perusal of the
entire record before this Court, it is inferred that
allegations are all omnibus in nature and there is no
specific overt acts attributed by petitioner.
11. In cases of this nature, overall facts have to be looked
into. This Court, having perused the documents on record,
is of the opinion that appearance of petitioner/accused
No.4 before before P.S.Godavari Khani I Town,
Ramagundam CP on the file of I Additional Junior Civil
Judge, Godhavari Khani, Peddapalli, can be dispensed with
and is dispensed. It is made clear that if her presence is
required, she shall be present. It is made clear that counsel
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on record for petitioner/accused No.4 shall be present at
every hearing of the case.
12. It is made clear that petitioner shall be present before
the Investigating Officer, if her presence is necessary for
the purpose of investigation. It is also made clear that if
she does not present herself before the Investigating
Officer, as required, this order shall stand vacated
automatically. Any observations made in this order shall
not influence the Court below while considering or
concluding the case at the time of trial.
13. With the above observations, this Criminal Petition is
disposed of.
Miscellaneous applications pending, if any, shall
stand closed.
___________________________
ANIL KUMAR JUKANTI, J
Date: 31.01.2025
Note: Issue CC by 03.02.2025.
(B/o)
plp
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CRLP_860_2025
THE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR JUKANTI
CRIMINAL PETITION No.860 OF 2025
Date: 31.01.2025
Note: Issue CC by 03.02.2025.
(B/o)
plp
