COMMON ORDER:

1. These instant petitions under Section 4 82 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ^ for short‘Cr.PC’ have been filed by the Petitioners/Accused Nos.1, 2 & 3 and 4 respectively, seeking quashment of proceedings against them in C.C.No.585 of 2022 on the file of the Court of II Additional Munsif Magistrate, Ongole, for the offence punishable under Section 4 98-A read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ^ ^for short ‘ IPC ’ and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 ^ for short ‘DP Act’ Since all these criminal petitions are seeking to quash the proceedings out of the same C.C., they are decided together by this common ^order.

Background leading to the filing of these Petitions

2. The case of Respondent No.2/Complainant, in brief, is as follows:

a. Respondent No.2 was originally a male and, having transitioned to female, has become a woman. While residing in Chennai, Respondent No.2 became acquainted with the Petitioner/Accused No.1, and their acquaintance developed into a romantic relationship. Despite being aware that Respondent No.2 is a transgender woman, Petitioner/Accused No.1 - continued the relationship with her. Upon learning about their affair, Petitione