Kakani Goverdhan Reddy v. State
In the High Court of Andhra Pradesh
Criminal Petition 353/2021
Before Justice K. Sreenivasa Reddy
Decided on March 06, 2024

Relevancy of the case: Petition for directing the Magistrate to adjudicate on the prosecution’s decision to withdraw proceedings in a digital forgery case

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Sections 65, 71)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Sections 193, 482)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Sections 109, 120B, 468, 469, 471, 506)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• In 2018, a government order constituted a Special Court for the trial of criminal offences relating to elected representatives in the Andhra Pradesh region.
• The police subsequently filed a chargesheet against the petitioner, who had been accused of digital forgery, among other offences. The Fourth Additional Judicial Magistrate First Class, Nellore (“Magistrate”), took cognizance of the same in 2019.
• The public prosecutor filed an application before the Magistrate for the withdrawal of prosecution against the petitioner during the pendency of the proceedings.
• The Magistrate reasoned that since he had already taken cognizance of the case and numbered it, the record was at the stage of transfer to the Special Court. Thus, he returned the petition, rejecting its maintainability at the stage.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel relied upon the Supreme Court’s judgement in Chintamaneni Prabhakara Rao @ Prabhakar v. State of Andhra Pradesh. He argued that the Special Court’s role emerged only from the trial stage. Additionally, he submitted that the petition was filed at the pre-trial stage. Therefore, the court must follow pre-trial procedures under the relevant law before the trial, including the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Opinion of the Bench

• The government order had constituted the Special Court exclusively for the trial.
• The petition was at the pre-trial stage, which obligated the Magistrate to dispose of it and pass an order.
• The Magistrate had erred in returning the application with an endorsement.

Final Decision

• The court disposed of the criminal petition and directed the Magistrate to dispose of the application.

Jyotsna Sood, an undergraduate student at the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2024.