Absence of the accused at the scene negates the applicability of the SC/ST (PoA) Act, establishing no nexus with the alleged offences.

ORDER

1. The instant Criminal Petition is for quashing the proceedings in Sessions Case No.84 of 2019 on the file of the Special Sessions Judge for Trial of Cases under SCs/STs (POA) Act, 1989-cum-VII Additional District Sessions Judge, R.R. District at L.B. Nagar. The S.C was registered against the petitioner for offences under sections 3(1)(f)(g)(r) and (s) and 3(2)(va) of The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The import of the provisions will be discussed later in the order.

2. The petitioner before this Court is the Accused No.3 in the Sessions Case. The respondent No.1 is the State represented by the learned Public Prosecutor and the respondent No.2 is the de facto complainant.

3. The Sessions Case arises out of a complaint filed by the respondent No.2/de facto complainant, who describes himself as an Advocate belonging to the Scheduled Caste (Mala) and as the Director of Razole Constituency S.C. Mutually Aided Cooperative Housing Society Limited, Hyderabad (‘the Society’). The complaint was filed to the Station House Officer, Gachibowli Police Station, Cyberabad Commissionerate, on 12.01.2016. The complaint recounts the following facts:

i. On 12.01.2016 at about 1:42 P.M., the de facto complainant received a phone call from two persons, who reported that Sri A.Kondal Reddy (Accused No.1), Sri E.Laxmaiah (Accused No.2) and a few other persons at the instigation of Accused No.3 (Sri A. Revanth Reddy) have criminally trespassed into the Society’s land situated in Survey No.127 of Gopanpally Village and demolished a room with a JCB.

ii. On receiving the information, the de facto complainant rushed to the site along with seven others. Upon reaching the site at 5:30 P.M., the de facto complainant found that a room located on the western side of the land had been demolished. The de facto complainant also found that the persons against whom the complaint was made were demolishing another room on the eastern side of the land with a JCB.

iii. The de facto complainant asserts that the offenders criminally trespassed into the Society’s land with the intention of occupying it, wrongfully dispossessing its members and committing theft of the asbestos sheets and iron rods from two separate rooms.

iv. The de facto complainant was abused with filthy language referencing his caste and was threatened with dire consequences, when the de facto complainant questioned the offenders. The de facto complainant was warned not to file any complaint against them and was threatened with being killed if the de facto complainant entered the land again.

v. The fourth paragraph of the complaint contains details of criminal cases pending investigation at the Gachibowli Police Station and also a Writ Petition pending in the High Court.

vi. The fifth and the last paragraph of the complaint requests the Station House Officer to take legal action against the offenders, namely Sri A. Kondal Reddy, Sri E. Laxmaiah and Sri A. Revanth Reddy for committing the offence of criminal trespass into the Society’s land with the intention to wrongfully occupying and dispossessing the members, demolishing two rooms with JCB, abusing and insulting the de facto complainant in the name of his caste, committing theft of asbestos sheets and iron pipes from the land and threatening the de facto complainant with dire consequences. The complaint states that the offenders are liable to be prosecuted under the relevant sections of the IPC and SC/ST (PoA) Act.

4. The Assistant Commi