IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HON’BLE SMT. JUSTICE TIRUMALA DEVI EADA CRIMINAL PETITION No.17477 of 2025 Date: 06.01.2026 Between:

Mohd Abdul Mubasheer ...Petitioner AND The State of Telangana, Represented by its Public Prosecutor, Telangana High Court Building, Hyderabad and another ...Respondents

ORDER

1. This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 528 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’) seeking the Court to quash the proceedings against the petitioner/accused in Crime No.330 of 2025, on the file of Asif Nagar Police Station, Hyderabad, registered for the offences punishable under Section 3 r/w 14 of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 (CALPRA), Section 18 of Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 (BLSA), Section 79 of India's Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) and 143(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha, 2023.

2. Heard Mr. Mahmood Khan, learned counsel for the petitioner/accused as well as Sri Jitender Rao Veeramalla, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent No.1-State.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is an old-age person and is providing education to the children of the persons working in his house. The allegations levelled against the petitioner herein are false and that he has not committed any such offence and has not put the children to do any work in his household. He therefore prayed to quash the proceedings. The learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that he has filed affidavit of the parents of the children disclosing that they work in the house of the petitioner and that the petitioner is getting their children educated and are looking after their welfare.

4. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor has not disputed the

5. Perused the record.

the parents of the said children are employed in the house of the petitioner herein and the petitioner has been supporting their education and they are not being treated as labour. Therefore, the allegation under Section 143(2) of BNS cannot be foisted against the petitioner herein.

7. For the sake of reference Section 143(2) of BNS is extracted hereunder:-

(1) This section states that a person commits the offence of trafficking if they recruit, transport, harbor, transfer, or receive another person for exploitation using methods such as threats, force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, or inducement.

"Exploitation" includes physical and sexual exploitation, slavery, servitude, beggary, or forced organ removal.

A victim's consent is not a defense to the charge of trafficking.

(2) The punishment for committing the offense of trafficking is rigorous imprisonment for a minimum of seven years, which may extend to ten years, along with a fine.

trafficking of the children cannot be alleged against the petitioner, as the contents of the affidavit makes it clear that the children were not at all put to any work in the house of the petitioner herein. Once the Section 143(2) of BNS is kept aside, the punishment prescribed for all the other offences alleged against the petitioner is less than seven (07)

years. Hence, without going into the merits of the case, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the petitioner/accused to appear before the Investigating Officer on or before 03.02.2026 between 11:00 a.m. and 05:00 p.m. and in turn, the Investigating Officer is directed to follow the procedure laid down under Section 35 (3) of the BNSS (previously Section 41-A of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973) and also the guidelines formulated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar, (2014) 8 SCC 273 scrupulously. However, the petitioner/accused shall submit his defense and co-operate with the Investigating Officer as and when required by furnishing information and producing all relevant documents/material required for the purpose of investigation and the