HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU CRIMINAL PETITION Nos.8758 of 2008 and 2745 of 2010 COMMON ORDER: The petitioners herein are accused of offence punishable under Section 420 IPC. They are arrayed as A.1 and A.2 respectively in the complaint filed by the 2nd respondent/complainant. A.2 is agent/Field Officer of Bayer Crop Science Pro-Agro Company. It is alleged that A.2 stored certain number of maize seed bags in A.1’s Nagarjuna Rice Mill, Nagarkurnool. The police raided rice mill of A.1 and seized the bags. A.1 is stated to have given confessional statement to the effect that A.2 seized the bags in his rice mill. It is alleged that A.2 surrendered before the police and admitted his guilt. Mere storing of seeds in bags is no offence under Section 420 IPC. Nobody was cheated in this case. The police did not make any investigation to find out whether the stored seeds are of standard quality or mis-branded. No ryot complained against any of A.1 or A.2 for selling any seeds of sub-standard nature. Storing of seeds, assuming for a moment for the sake of argument, without licence may attract contravention of any control order and will not certainly attract the offence under Section 420 IPC. The present case is nothing but sheer abuse of process of criminal law and without basic knowledge of criminal law. In the result, both the Criminal Petitions are allowed, quashing proceedings in C.C.No.266 of 2007 on the file of Judicial Magistrate of the First Class, Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar District. ____________________________ SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU,J Dt. 10th November, 2011. PNV