Hyderabad : Telangana high court has dismissed an appeal filed by a Shamirpet farmer challenging a criminal case registered against him, ruling that the plea was not maintainable under the letters patent as the relief sought would effectively amount to quashing criminal proceedings.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by Kadannagari Babu, 67.
The dispute between the parties was purely civil in nature and stemmed from litigation already pending before a trial court, according to Babu. Munu Swamy had alleged that Babu had trespassed into his land, damaged property, and threatened him. The single judge, however, declined to quash the case and instead directed the police not to take any coercive action against Babu without following due process of law. He contended that the Shamirpet police, acting at the behest of Munu Swamy, were misusing criminal proceedings to pressure him into a compromise in the civil dispute. Arguing the appeal, counsel for Babu relied on a Supreme Court ruling and contended that the mere nomenclature of a petition should not bar an intra-court appeal. The counsel also cited a Punjab and Haryana high court precedent relating to preventive detention proceedings, where such appeals were held to be maintainable despite the proceedings having criminal overtones. However, govt pleader for home Mahesh Raje and counsel for Munu Swamy opposed the plea, submitting that the relief sought was, in effect, for quashing the FIR and related proceedings, which squarely fell within the criminal jurisdiction of the court. They argued that entertaining such an appeal under the letters patent would be impermissible.
Based on the complaint, the Shamirpet police registered a criminal case and subsequently filed a charge sheet before the court. Aggrieved by the order, Babu filed the present appeal before the division bench.
Babu had initially approached a single judge seeking a declaration that the criminal case registered against him at the instance of another farmer, Kadannagari Munu Swamy, was illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.