The court held that driving without a number plate does not constitute an offense under IPC Section 420 or the relevant Act, warranting quashment of proceedings.

ORDER:

This petition is filed under Section 528 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘the BNSS ’) seeking quashment of the proceedings in C.C.No.8824 of 2024 pending on the file of the learned II Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Nampally, Hyderabad.

2. The brief facts of the case are that, Respondent No. 2, a Head Constable, lodged a complaint against the accused, stating that while he, along with his staff, was conducting vehicle checks at Putlibowli Junction, Hyderabad, they stopped three two-wheeler vehicles being driven by the accused, each without a number plate. Upon questioning the drivers regarding the absence of number plates, the accused gave evasive and hasty responses. Consequently, Respondent No. 2 seized the vehicles and brought both the vehicles and the accused to the police station. Thereafter, a case was registered as Crime No. 316 of 2024 for offences punishable under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, Section

80(a) of the relevant Act, and Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act.

3. I have heard Mr.Mohd Omerullah Shareef, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr.Jithender Rao Veeramalla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent No.1-State.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is innocent and that the allegations made against him by Respondent No. 2 do not, on their face, constitute any offence. He further contended that, in order to attract the provisions of Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, it is essential that the accused must have cheated and dishonestly induced the victim to deliver any property to any person, or to make, alter, or destroy the whole or any part of a valuable security or other property. In the present case, it is neither alleged nor established that the subject vehicle belongs to Respondent No. 2, nor that Respondent No. 2 has been cheated in any manner merely because the petitioner was driving without a number plate. Therefore, the ingredients necessary to constitute an offence punishable under Section 420 IPC are absent. Counsel further submitted that Section 80 (a) of the relevant Act merely prescribes the requirement for the exhibition of a registration number on a motor vehicle; it does not stipulate any punishment for non-compliance. Moreover, there is no provision in the Act explicitly declaring that driving a vehicle without a number plate, in itself, constitutes an offence. In view of these submissions, learned counsel prayed that the Court quash the proceedings against the petitioner.

5. On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the contentions advanced on behalf of the petitioner and submitted that the allegations levelled against the petitioner warrant a full-fledged trial.

Accordingly, he prayed for dismissal of the criminal petition.

6. In light of the submissions advanced by both learned counsel and upon perusal of the material available on record, it is evident that the sole allegation against the petitioner is that he was driving a vehicle without a number plate, for which the vehicle was seized. Such conduct, by itself, does not fall within the ambit of Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.

7. The petitioner has also been charged under Section 80 (a) of the relevant Act. However, this provision pertains to the procedure for applying for and granting permits to vehicles, and is not attracted merely because a vehicle is being driven without a number plate. Therefore, the alleged act does not satisfy the requirements of Section 80 (a) of the Act.

8. If indeed the petitioner drove a vehicle without a numb