HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.785 of 2026 Between :

Sekhar Kumar S/o.Upendra Prasad Sah, Aged: about 44 years, Occ: Lt. Colonel, Residing at : Katihar, Bihar, Presently serving in the Indian Army R/o.7021 EME C/0 56 APO ….Petitioner/Accused VERSUS The State of Telangana, Represented by SHO Chaitanyapuri Police Station, Through Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana, At Hyderabad and another … Respondents DATE OF JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED: 13.03.2026 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.785 of 2026 % Dated 13.03.2026 # Sekhar Kumar S/o.Upendra Prasad Sah, Aged: about 44 years, Occ: Lt. Colonel, Residing at : Katihar, Bihar, Presently serving in the Indian Army R/o.7021 EME C/0 56 APO ….Petitioner/Accused VERSUS $ The State of Telangana, Represented by SHO Chaitanyapuri Police Station, Through Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana, At Hyderabad and another … Respondents ! Counsel for Petitioner : Mr. N. Abhishek ^ Counsel for Respondents : Mr. Santosh Kumar Yadav (Respondent No.2)

Mr. Jithender Rao Veeramalla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for respondent No.1-State GIST:

> HEAD NOTE:

? CITATIONS:

1. (2023) 20 SCC 120

2. 2023 SCC OnLine Cal 1961

3. (2010) 8 SCC 714 4. AIR 2009 SC 1010 5. (2003) 8 SCC 590

6. 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335

7. (2021) 19 SCC 401

8. 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 1170 HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE J. SREENIVAS RAO CRIMINAL PETITION No. 785 of 2026 DATE: 13.03.2026 Between :

Sekhar Kumar ....Petitioner/Accused AND The State of Telangana Represented by SHO, Chaitanyapuri Police Station, Through Public Prosecutor, High Court of the State of Telangana At Hyderabad and another ....Respondents : O R D E R :

This Criminal Petition has been filed by the petitioner/accused seeking to quash the proceedings in F.I.R. No.416 of 2024 of Chaitanyapuri Police Station, Rachakonda, registered for the offences under Sections 376(2)(f) and 354A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, ‘the IPC’), and Sections 5 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (for short, ‘the POCSO Act’).

2. Brief facts of the case

2.1. On 01.06.2024, respondent No.2/de-facto complainant lodged a complaint before Chaitanyapuri Police Station, Rachakonda Commissionerate, stating that the petitioner was acquainted with the her family since 2013 and he earned the family's blind trust by posing as a father figure and issued her an Army Dependent Card listing himself as her father and facilitated her B.Sc. Biotechnology admission in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, in June 2019, when she was 17 years old. The petitioner gave her shelter in his Delhi Cantonment military quarter, from July 2019, and he began vulgar advances, forced her to remove the towel after bath and tucked her uniform shirt inappropriately despite resistance. On 06.09.2019, and subsequent nights, drugged her dinner to render her semi-conscious before sexually assaulting her multiple times by undressing her, touching and orally assaulting her private parts and attempting penetration. After confronting and relocating within the quarter, she returned to Hyderabad in October 2019 and visited Delhi only to attend exams. After completing her graduation, while staying in a hostel, informed her parents about similar assaults committed by the petitioner on her younger sister and he continued to visit their residence in Hyderabad on about four to five occasions post COVID. During his stay beginning from 21.05.2024, the petitioner allegedly groped her including her private parts. On 24.05.2024 and 25.05.2024, the same was repeated w