Advocate Appeared :

For the Appellant : M/s. P. Thiagarajan, Advocate.

JUDGMENT :

Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, J.

(Prayer: The unnumbered Writ Appeal is filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent to set aside the order passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P. (Criminal) No.8431 of 2020 dated 26.06.2020.)

1. W.A.SR.No.44351 of 2020 was listed under the caption 'for maintainability' before this Court on 27.07.2020 in the following facts and circumstances.

2. The first Respondent herein filed a W.P. (Criminal) No.8431 of 2020 (the Writ Petition) against the Superintendent of Police, Inspector of Police and four private parties including the Appellant herein.

3. The Writ Petition was filed for a writ of mandamus to direct the police officials, who had been arrayed as the first and second Respondents, to register the complaint dated 22.01.2020 and take action against Respondents 3 to 6 and to provide police protection to the petitioner therein within the time fixed by this Court. The Writ Petition was disposed of by order dated 26.06.2020, whereby the second Respondent was directed to register the case as directed by the learned Judicial Magistrate-I, Chenglepet by order dated 06.03.2020 in C.M.P. No.2322 of 2020 forthwith and file a final report within a period of twelve weeks before the jurisdictional magistrate concerned.

4. Being aggrieved by this order, the present W.A. SR.No.44351 of 2020 was filed. The Registry raised an objection with regard to the maintainability of the appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent because W.P.(Criminal) No.8431 of 2020 was filed by invoking the criminal jurisdiction of this Court. In response to the objection, the learned counsel for the Appellant made the following endorsement:

“The impugned order passed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India by the Hon'ble Single Judge of this Court and an appeal has been provided against the order passed by the Hon'ble Single Judge before the Division Bench of this Court. Hence, the appeal is maintainable."

5. We heard the learned counsel for the Appellant. The learned counsel contended that the Appellant was allotted 6.75 cents of the property situated in S.No.106/2A, Ekattur Village, Thiruporur Taluk, Chenglepet, under a family arrangement. Thereafter, he is in possession of the said property for more than 15 years. The first Respondent attempted to enter into the Appellant's property on 25.01.2020 and, therefore, the Appellant filed a complaint that was registered under Community Service Register (CSR) No.60 of 2020 before the third Respondent. However, the third Respondent refused to register a FIR on the ground that it is a civil dispute. Therefore, the Appellant filed O.S.No.36 of 2020 on the file of the Additional Subordinate Court, Chenglepet seeking a permanent injunction against the first Respondent and his son. The first Respondent also filed a complaint before the third Respondent herein which was assigned CSR No.56 of 2020. Both the Appellant and the first Respondent were called for an enquiry and advised to approach a civil court to resolve their dispute. In that situation, the first Respondent filed a petition under Section 156(3) Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (the Cr.P.C.) before the Judicial Magistrate I, Chenglepet, without arraying the Appellant as a party and an order was passed in the said petition on 06.03.2020. The Writ Petition was filed by the first Respondent thereafter. In the Writ Petition, the first Respondent did not disclose material facts relating to the two earlier complaints filed by the Appellant and the first Respondent, respectively, or that both the parties were directed to approach a civil court to resolve their dispute and that a civil suit was filed. On account of non-disclosure of such material facts, the Writ Court disposed of the Writ Petition by issuing the impugned order even without ordering notice to the Appellant. It was also urged that the dispute essentially being civil in nature there was no reason for