Jangapelly Lachaiah v. Forest Beat Officer

THE HON'BLE JUSTICE G.SRI DEVI CRIMINAL PETITION No.749 of 2020 ORDER:

This Criminal Petition, under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, is filed by the petitioner/Accused seeking to quash the proceedings against him in POR No.654 of 83 of Forest Beat Officer, Edlapally, Koyyur Range, Bhupalapally Division, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 9, 39, 50 and 51 of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 and Section 20 (1) of the Telangana State Forest Act, 1967.

2.

Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner/Accused, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor representing the respondentState and perused the record. 3.

Though the learned counsel for the petitioner/Accused filed the present petition for quashing the investigation in the aforesaid POR, he restricts his prayer seeking a direction to the Investigating agency to follow the procedure prescribed under Section 41-A Cr.P.C. and follow the guidelines prescribed by the Apex Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar and another1.

4.

Under these circumstances, the Forest Beat Officer, Edlapally Beat, Koyyur Range, Bhupalapally Division, is directed to follow the procedure laid down under Section 41-A Cr.P.C. before arresting the petitioner/Accused and strictly adhere to the guidelines formulated by the Apex Court in Arnesh Kumar case (supra). However, no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner/accused till filing of the final report.

1 AIR 2014 SC 2756

6.

With the above direction, the Criminal Petition is disposed of. Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in this criminal petition shall stand closed.

______________________ JUSTICE G.SRI DEVI 11th February, 2020 KL