BUDAPAP Vs. STATE OF A P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition filed under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code to quash the proceedings in Crime No. 16 of 2004 of Hindupur Rural Police Station, Ananthapur District, against the petitioners.

(2.) Relevant facts, in brief, are as follows:- The 2nd respondent herein gave a report before the Police alleging that on 16-3-2004 at 5.30 p.m. when he was at Amen Hotel at Check post in Thummakunta village, the petitioners 1 to 7 herein went there abusing him and beat him with brooms, chappals, hands and legs and further abused him in his caste name as he belong to Harijana caste. On the said allegations the police registered the same as a case in Crime No. 16 of 2004 of Hindupur Rural Police Station for the offence punishable underSection 3(1)(x) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (for short, 'the Act').

(3.) Aggrieved of the same, the petitioners herein, who are arrayed as A-1 to A-7 in the said crime, filed the present petition contending that the 5th petitioner herein is the ward member of 7th ward, Thummakunta Gram Panchayat Hindupur Mandal, Ananthapur District and that on 16-3-2004 around 4.30 p.m., the 5th petitioner in the process of executing formation of road around burial ground in Thummakunta village, got the shrub growth removed and burnt, and while she was doing so, the adjacent land owners i.e. one Nagamani and three others, who are the followers of 2nd respondent herein, and the 2nd respondent also joined them there and abused her and further beat on her head with a stone and caused bleeding injury and she lodged a report with the Police and the Police registered the same as a case in Crime No. 22 of 2004 of Hindupur Rural Police Station for the offence under Section 324 r/w. 34 I.P.C. at about 8.45 p.m. and that in order to act as a counter-blast, the 2nd respondent herein filed a false report and it was registered at 10.00 p.m. in the Police Station on the same day and that it is a clear abuse of process of law and that even if the allegations mentioned in the report of the 2nd respondent are taken as true, the provisions of Section 3 (1) (x) of the Act do not attract and that the other allegations do not constitute any cognizable offence. Therefore, the proceedings in Crime No. 16 of 2004 of Hindupur Rural Police Station are liable to be quashed.