IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD THURSDAY, THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND TEN PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C. BHANU CRIMINAL PETITION No.2732 OF 2009 Between: Patlolla Praveena .....PETITIONER AND The State of Andhra Pradesh ....RESPONDENT The Court made the following: THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C. BHANU CRIMINAL PETITION No.2732 OF 2009 ORDER: This Criminal Petition, under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, “Cr.P.C.”), is filed to quash the proceedings against the petitioner/A6 in P.R.C.No.14 of 2009 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Tandur, Ranga Reddy District. 2. It is alleged that on 06.08.2008 from 01:30 AM to 06:30 AM, the accused A1 to A7 have wrongfully confined the deceased, Byagari Srinivas @ Seenappa, by pulling his hands backwards around a wooden pillar; tied them restricting his movements; voluntarily beat him with a wooden stick and thereafter, caused burn injuries to the deceased, as a result of which, he died on the spot. The accused were of the knowledge that the deceased belongs to Scheduled Caste community. Thus, the accused A1 to A7 have committed the offences punishable under Sections 302 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, (for short, “I.P.C.”) and 3 (2) (v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (PoA) Act, 1989. Further, A1 also committed an offence punishable under Section 112 I.P.C. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner/A6 was not present in the village on the date of alleged offence; that no specific overt acts are attributed against the petitioner; that therefore, continuation of proceedings against the petitioner is nothing but abuse of process of Court and hence, he prays to quash the proceedings. 4. Learned counsel representing the learned Public Prosecutor contended that the allegations in charge sheet made out a prima facie case of the offences alleged; that there are no grounds to quash the proceedings and hence, he prays to dismiss the Criminal Petition. 5. Inherent powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. can be exercised to prevent abuse of process of Court or to secure ends of justice or to give effect to the orders passed under the Code. The allegations in the charge sheet, if taken as true or correct at this stage, made out a prima facie case of the offences alleged, then the question of quashing the charge sheet does not arise. 6. At this stage, the allegations in the charge sheet cannot be decided as true or false. The allegation is that the present petitioner along with some others tied the hands of the deceased to the backside of a wooden pillar. Thereafter, A2 to A4 beat the deceased with a stick on his body indiscriminately and A5 to A7 beat the deceased with a chappal over his head. On the next day morning at about 06:30 AM, the deceased died in the same position. The case of the petitioner is that she was not present in the village at the time of the incident and was pleading alibi. There cannot be any dispute that the plea of alibi has to be decided and determined in the trial Court and that fact cannot be decided in a petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. Therefore, prima facie, presence and participation of the present petitioner is also made out in the commission of offence. 7. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is dismissed, leaving open all the remedies available to the petitioner under law. _______________ K.C. BHANU, J August 26, 2010 MD THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.C. BHANU CRIMINAL PETITION No.2732 OF 2009 August 26, 2010