Telangana high court junks farmer’s appeal against criminal case, cites jurisdictional limits | Hyderabad News

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.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.Munu Swamy had alleged that Babu had trespassed into his land, damaged property, and threatened him. Based on the complaint, the Shamirpet police registered a criminal case and subsequently filed a charge sheet before the court.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. Aggrieved by the order, Babu filed the present appeal before the division bench.Dismissing the appeal, the bench held that the relief sought by the appellant would effectively result in quashing the criminal case and therefore fell outside the scope of appeals permitted under the Letters Patent.Letters patent are govt-issued legal instruments that establish courts, define their jurisdictions and set out their internal rules.According to Babu, the dispute between the parties was purely civil in nature and stemmed from litigation already pending before a trial court. 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.Accepting the contention, the division bench dismissed the appeal.