Vasamsetti Gopala Krishna v. The State Of A.P.,

THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE T.SUNIL CHOWDARY CRIMINAL PETITION No.3952 of 2017 ORDER:

This petition is filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash the proceedings in Crime No.88 of 2017 on the file of the Station House Officer, Karapa Police Station, East Godavari District, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 323, 509 read with 34 IPC and Section 3(1)(r)(s) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 2015. 2.

Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor for the State of Andhra Pradesh.

3.

A perusal of the record reveals that the petitioners are accused Nos.1 to 3 and the second respondent is the de facto complainant in Crime No.88 of 2017.

4.

As per the allegations made in the complaint, on 24.04.2017 at about 11.00 p.m. the petitioners herein beat the second respondent and abused him in the name of his caste. The gist of the allegations made in the complaint is that the petitioners herein insulted the second respondent in the name of his caste. 5.

Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that due to village politics, the petitioners were falsely implicated in this case. 6.

This is not the stage to go into the merits of the main case. While exercising the inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C., the

Court has to take into consideration the allegations made in the complaint only. The Court is not justified in embarking upon an enquiry as to probability, reliability or genuineness of the allegations made in the complaint at the initial stage of investigation. The material placed before the Court is prima facie sufficient to investigate into the matter in order to ascertain the truthfulness or otherwise of the allegations made in the complaint. 7.

Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and also the principle enunciated in R.P.Kapoor v. State of Punjab1, State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal2, V.Y.Jose v. State of Gurajat 3 and Teeja Devi v. State of Rajasthan4, I am of the considered view that it is not a fit case to quash the criminal proceedings at the threshold.

8.

Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case and also the principle enunciated by the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar5, the Station House Officer, Karapa Police Station, East Godavari District, is hereby directed to follow the procedure as contemplated under Section 41-A Cr.P.C. in Crime No.88 of 2017 so far as the petitioners/ A.1 to A.3 are concerned.

9.

With the above direction, the Criminal Petition is disposed of.

1 AIR 1960 SC 866 2 AIR 1992 SC 604 3 (2009) 3 SCC 78 4 2015 (1) ACR 564 (SC) 5 2014 (8) SCALE 250

10.

Consequently, Miscellaneous Petitions, if any, pending in this Criminal Petition shall stand closed.

______________________ T.SUNIL CHOWDARY, J Date: 06.06.2017 Rns