IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY NINTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MRS JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI and THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO : 1595 of 2002 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the Order dated ______ in WP NO : 11066 OF 2002 on the file of the High Court.) Between: 1 Station House Officer, Pedapadu, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G.District. 2 Superintendent of Police, Eluru, W.G.District. 3 D.I.G. of Police, Eluru Range, Eluru. ..... APPELLANT(S) AND 1 Gantasala Tirupathi S/o Venkatramayya R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 2 Mungaru Kasulu S/o China Tirupathi Venkayya R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 3 Mungara Kasiviswanadham S/o Mangayya R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 4 Mora Kanaka Durga Rao, S/o Lakshmayya R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 5 Mungara China Venkateswara Rao S/o Mangayya R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 6 Mungara Srimannarayana S/o China Narsimham R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 7 Gantasala Subba Rao S/o China Narsimham R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 8 Mungara Edukondalu S/o Ganga Raju R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 9 Gantasala Venkata Swamy S/o Rama Rao R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 10 Mungara Yuva Raju S/o China Krishna Murthy R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 11 Gantasala Tata Raju S/o Balliya R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 12 Bale Narayana Swamy S/o Sesha Rao R/o Vaddigudem Village, Pedapadu Mandal, W.G. District. 13 Visweswara Rao, Chaitanya Oils Ltd., Kurumaddali, Pamarru Mandal, Krishna District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Counsel for the Appellant:GP FOR HOME Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.C.S.N.RAJU The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE SMT. JUSTICE T.MEENA KUMARI AND THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT APPEAL NO.1595 OF 2002 JUDGMENT: (Per Hon’ble Smt. Justice T.Meena Kumari) The present writ appeal is filed challenging the order dated 11.07.2002 passed by a learned single Judge of this Court in Writ Petition No.11066 of 2002 to the extent that it imposed costs of Rs.5,000/- on the first and second respondents in the writ petition. The appellants herein are the respondents 1 to 3 in the writ petition and the writ petitioners are the respondents herein. The fourth respondent in the writ petition is the thirteenth respondent in this appeal. However, for the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to as per their array in the writ petition. The writ petition was filed seeking a writ of mandamus declaring the action of the first respondent in interfering and pressurizing the petitioners in relation to a civil dispute as arbitrary, illegal, and in violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India as well as the principles of natural justice. The case of the writ petitioners, in brief, before the learned single Judge was that they had fish tanks in their village since the year 1985 and used to purchase De-oiled Rice Bran, which is the main fish feed, from the fourth respondent, namely, M/s.Chaitanya Oils Limited (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Company’), Kurumaddali, Pamarru Mandal, Krishna District. While so, in the year 1989 they stopped buying the said fish feed from the Company. Thereupon, it appears that the first respondent summoned the petitioners and pressurized them to clear the amount of Rs.65,00,000/- allegedly due to the company. The case of the petitioners is that they were not liable to pay any amount to the company. Again on 08.06.2002 the first respondent forced the petitioners to meet him. In the meanwhile, the fourth respondent, who is the Managing Director of the Company, demanded that if the petitioners buy the De-oiled Rice Bran from the Company, he would withdraw the cases lodged against the petitioners. Again on 12.06.2002, the Police came and demanded the petitioners to pay the said alleged amount due to the company. Hence, the writ petition. The first respondent filed a counter affidavit on behalf of the respondents 1 to 3 denying the averments made in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition. It is inter alia averred in the counter that the fourth respondent made a written complaint on 07.06.2002 to the second respondent, alleging that the writ petitioners are due a sum of Rs.66,00,000/- to the Company and that the said complaint was forwarded on 10.06.2002 by the second respondent with an endorsement to the first respondent to the effect that the first respondent should enquire, take necessary action and inform to the second respondent within four days therefrom. In the above circumstances, the first respondent had to investigate into matter but he did not register any crime. The learned single Judge, after hearing the learned counsel for the writ petitioners as well as the learned Government Pleader for Home appearing for the respondents 1 to 3, inter alia observed that the complaint said to have been made on 07.06.2002 by the fourth respondent to the second respondent did not disclose commission of a cognizable offence by the writ petitioners. The learned Judge further observed that in view of the direction given to the first respondent by the second respondent to take action in relation to a civil dispute, the second respondent became a privy to a conduct, which has the tendency to breach the human rights. The writ petition was accordingly allowed with costs and consequently the first and second respondents were directed to deposit costs of Rs.5,000/- in this Court. Questioning that part of the impugned order whereunder the first and second respondent were directed to deposit costs of Rs.5,000/- in this Court, the present writ appeal was filed. Heard the learned Government Pleader for Home appearing for the respondents/appellants and the learned counsel for the writ petitioners. At the out set, it is to be noticed that although the learned Government Pleader for Home took time on the ground that the officers who worked as Station House Officer, Pedpadu, Pedapadu Mandal, West Godavari District and the Superintendent of Police, West Godavari District at Eluru, at the relevant point of time, who are the first and second respondents, would file an application in this writ appeal for their impleadment in their personal capacity, no such application was in fact filed. It appears that the first and second respondents have no interest to prosecute this appeal in their personal capacity. The learned Government Pleader for Home appearing for the respondents/appellants would submit that the learned Judge erred in imposing costs on the first and second respondents as it is the prerogative of the Police Officer to enquire into the matter to maintain law and order and to prevent occurence of any cognizable offence, as per Section 149 of the Code of Civil Procedure and accordingly on the strength of the complaint made by the fourth respondent and in view of the subsequent endorsement made thereon by the second respondent, the first respondent investigated into the same but no crime was registered against the writ petitioners. He therefore prayed that, that portion of the impugned order whereunder costs of Rs.5,000/- were imposed on the first and second respondents may be set aside. On the other hand, the learned counsel appearing for the writ petitioners, while supporting the impugned order, submitted that the learned single, having considered the matter in depth in the proper perspective, allowed the writ petition with costs which did not call for interference, having due regard to the facts and circumstances of this case. He accordingly prayed that the writ appeal may be dismissed. We have gone through the material available on record. A perusal of the impugned order clearly manifests that the learned Judge dealt with the matter in detail. Having considered the material on record, the learned Judge inter alia held that the dispute between the fourth respondent and the writ petitioners, which pertained to the alleged liability of the writ petitioners to pay an amount of Rs.66,00,000/- to the company, was purely a civil dispute which had to be resolved by a Civil Court of competent jurisdiction; and that the endorsement made by the second respondent on the complaint filed by the fourth respondent directing the first respondent to enquire and take necessary action was improper. It was further held that any impropriety on the part of the Police, which offends the fundamental rights or human rights, could not be treated lightly by this Court, being a sentinel qui vive and guardian of the basic fundamental rights and human rights of the citizenry, and in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. Holding so, the learned Judge rightly allowed the writ petition with costs. In fact, this Court, time and again, has been reiterating the settled law to the effect that the Police ought not to interfere in civil disputes and that they shall not investigate any conduct of a citizen, which does not tantamount to a cognizable offence. It appears that the Police are only paying lip service to the above law laid down by this Court. Under the above circumstances, we do not find any reason to interfere with either the well considered order passed by the learned single Judge or that part of the order whereunder the first and second respondents were directed to deposit costs of Rs.5,000/- in this Court, which we accordingly confirm. For the foregoing reasons, the writ appeal is dismissed. No costs. ______________________ T.MEENA KUMARI, J ____________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J 29th July, 2009. PGS/VGSR