HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.2460 of 2026 Between :

S. Kiran Kumar S/o.S. Rangaiah, Age: 60 years, Occ: Additional Collector, O/o.Collectorate, Nizamabad District ….Petitioner/Accused No.3 VERSUS The State of Telangana Rep. by Spl. Public Prosecutor, ACB, High Court of Telangana, Hyderabad through P.S., ACB, Khammam Range, Khammam District.

… Respondent DATE OF JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED: 03.03.2026 THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE J. SREENIVAS RAO 1. Whether Reporters of Local Yes/No newspapers may be allowed to see the Judgments?

2. Whether the copies of judgment may Yes/No be marked to Law Reporters/Journals?

3. Whether Their Ladyship/Lordship wish Yes/No to see the fair copy of the Judgment?

_______________________ J. SREENIVAS RAO, J THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE J. SREENIVAS RAO + CRIMINAL PETITION No.2460 of 2026 % Dated 03.03.2026 # S. Kiran Kumar S/o.S. Rangaiah, Age: 60 years, Occ: Additional Collector, O/o.Collectorate, Nizamabad District ….Petitioner/Accused No.3 VERSUS $ The State of Telangana Rep. by Spl. Public Prosecutor, ACB, High Court of Telangana, Hyderabad through P.S., ACB, Khammam Range, Khammam District.

… Respondents ! Counsel for Petitioner : Mr. M. Rama Rao Kilaru ^ Counsel for Respondents : Mr. T. Bala Mohan Reddy Learned Special Public Prosecutor for CBI GIST:

> HEAD NOTE:

? CITATIONS:

1. 2025 SCC OnLine SC 21

2. (2020) 14 SCC 552

3. (2002) 1 SCC 555 4. (1999) 8 SCC 686

5. 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335

6. (2021) 19 SCC 401 HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE J. SREENIVAS RAO CRIMINAL PETITION No. 2460 of 2026 DATE: 03.03.2026 Between :

S. Kiran Kumar ....Petitioner/Accused No.3 AND The State of Telangana, Rep. by Spl. Public Prosecutor, ACB, High Court of Telangana, Hyderabad through P.S., ACB, Khammam Range, Khammam District.

....Respondent : O R D E R :

This Criminal Petition has been filed under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, ‘the BNSS’), by the petitioner/accused No.3 seeking to quash the proceedings in F.I.R.No.18/RCO-ACB-KMM/2025 dated 22.11.2025 of Police Station ACB Khammam Range, Khammam District, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 13(1)(d) read with 13(2) and 7(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for short, ‘the PC Act’).

2. Brief facts of the case:

The case arises out of a vigilance enquiry which revealed that the endowment land belonging to Sri Seetharamachandra Swamy temple situated at Kachirajugudem village, to an extent of Ac.124.06 guntas and valued at approximately Rs.10 crores, was unlawfully encroached. It is alleged that the petitioner-Accused Officer No.3 along with other Accused Officers, while serving in various capacities in the office of the Tahsildar, Khammam Rural Mandal, abused their official positions by issuing pattadar passbooks in favour of encroachers without lawful registration relating to the endowment land, thereby conferring undue pecuniary advantage and acting dishonestly in discharge of public duties. Upon examination of the vigilance report, dated 09.02.2021, the Government of Telangana accepted the recommendations for legal action and entrusted the matter to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Telangana State, for investigation. On verification of records, witnesses statements and relevant documents, prima facie material was found disclosing the commission of the offences punishable under Sections 13(1)(d) read with 13(2) and Section 7(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), and Section 120-B read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Accordingly, Crime No. 18/RCO-ACB- KMM/2025 was registered on 22.11.2025 and the investigation was taken up.

3. Heard Mr. M. Surender Rao, learned Senior Counsel representing Mr. Rama Rao Kilaru, learned counsel for the petitioner, and Mr. T. Bala Mohan Reddy, learned Special Public Prosecutor for CBI appearing on behalf of the respondent.

4. Submissions of learned counsel for the petitioner:

4.1. Learne