THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.TUKARAMJI CRIMINAL PETITION No. 13061 OF 2024

ORDER

This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 528 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘the BNSS’) seeking quashment of the proceedings against the petitioner in C.C. No.7093 of 2021 on the file of the learned XV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Hyderabad.

2. The petitioner is arrayed as accused No.5 in the Calendar Case registered for the offences punishable under Sections 498-A, 406, 420, 494 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 4 and 6 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

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

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has no involvement whatsoever in the alleged offences. In particular, the invocation of Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is wholly inapplicable to her, as she had lawfully obtained a khula divorce and thereby severed all marital and familial ties with the complainant's family.

In light of this significant change in circumstances, learned counsel prays for the quashing of the proceedings pending against the petitioner.

5. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor submits that the petitioner had previously filed a petition seeking quashment of the proceedings. However, in that instance, the petitioner limited the relief sought to dispensing with her personal appearance in the Calendar Case proceedings. While the filing of a subsequent petition under Section 528 of the BNSS is legally permissible, such a petition must be founded upon a clear and material change in circumstances, and must disclose a tenable ground warranting judicial consideration. In the present petition, the petitioner merely reiterates the earlier prayer without demonstrating any new or substantial grounds. Consequently, the petition does not merit consideration and is liable to be dismissed.

6. I have perused the materials on record.

7. The Calendar Case dates back to the year 2021, pursuant to which the petitioner had earlier filed a petition seeking quashment of the proceedings. In the present petition, the petitioner contends that she obtained a khula divorce on 27.12.2023, asserting this as a subsequent change in circumstance warranting reconsideration. However, it is significant to note that the prosecution is based on the allegations detailed in the police report dated 04.09.2020, which pertain to events that allegedly occurred during that period. Even assuming that the petitioner did obtain a khula divorce in 2023, such development does not materially affect the viability of the prosecution for the incidents alleged to have taken place in 2020. Moreover, as rightly submitted by the learned Additional Public Prosecutor, although the petitioner previously challenged the proceedings, she confined her prayer to seeking exemption from personal appearance, without pursuing quashment on substantive grounds.

8. In view of the foregoing, this Court finds that neither on merits nor on the alleged ground of subsequent change in circumstance has the petitioner made out a case warranting interference. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is devoid of merit and is, therefore, dismissed. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed.

_______________ N.TUKARAMJI, J Date: 07.04.2025 svl