Jupally Lakshmikantha Reddy, S/o. Chinna Venkata Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by Its Public Prosecutor
2024-04-18
VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA
body2024
DigiLaw.ai
ORDER : Venkata Jyothirmai Pratapa, J. The instant petition under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, [for short ‘Cr.P.C’] has been filed by the Petitioner/Accused, seeking quashment of the proceedings against him in C.C.No.303 of 2020 on the file of the Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Nandyal, Kurnool District for the offence under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, [for short ‘IPC’]. 2. The contents of the charge sheet, in brief, are as follows : a. Accused was running JVRR Education society at L.K.R. Estate as Correspondent. Accused was also given no objection certificate for running JVRR College of Education and also constructed non-multistoried building with Ground-03 upstairs with height of 14.20 meters. b. Accused has been running the educational institution by creating fake no objection certificate vide RC.No.535/A2/KNL/2016, Dt. 12.09.2016, which was not issued by the Assistant District Fire Officer, Kurnool District. The Accused has been producing the No Objection Certificate from time to time renewing before the Education Department and Fire Department which is a fake one. c. On identifying the same, the Complainant i.e., the District Fire Officer, Kurnool lodged a complaint with the Police, which was registered as a case in Crime No.99 of 2018 of Nandyal III Town Police Station and the same was numbered as C.C.No.303 of 2020 on the file of the Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Nandyal. 3. Aggrieved by the registration of the case against him, Petitioner/Accused filed the present petition on the following grounds : a. The Police without making any preliminary enquiry had erroneously registered the case against the Petitioner. b. The complainant alleged that the signature of the Assistant District Fire Officer, Kurnool, Kurnool District is forged and the same was used as genuine, but said Assistant District Fire Officer did not give any complaint to anyone stating that his signature was forged. c. The petitioner after coming to know the registration of the offence, had addressed a letter to the Director General, State Disaster Response and Fire Services, Vijayawada and brought to their notice that he never created any such alleged Fire No Objection Certificate for his institution i.e., JVRR Elementary Teacher Education Institution.
c. The petitioner after coming to know the registration of the offence, had addressed a letter to the Director General, State Disaster Response and Fire Services, Vijayawada and brought to their notice that he never created any such alleged Fire No Objection Certificate for his institution i.e., JVRR Elementary Teacher Education Institution. d. The petitioner has filed a Writ Petition No.14542 of 2018 along with other educational institutions, wherein the Hon’ble High Court passed an interim direction in I.A.No.1 of 2018, directing the respondent therein to issue renewal afflation of the petitioner institution without insisting Fire No Objection Certificate from the Director General, State Disaster Response and Fire Services, Vijayawada. e. As per the National Building code 2016, there is no need to obtain Fire NOC for the educational buildings for the height of 15 meters below. The said building is within 15 meters of height. Therefore, the alleged creation and fabrication of the Fire No Objection Certificate does not arise. f. The Petitioner and other educational institutions issued contempt notice dated 01.10.2019 for willful disobedience of the Orders of this High Court and after receipt of the said notice, the officials issued renewals of the institution and till today the institutions are being run without producing the Fire No Objection Certificate. g. The entire allegations do not make out a case against the Petitioner and hence, the case against the Petitioner is liable to be quashed. Arguments Advanced at the Bar 4. Heard Sri Sata Vijaya Kumar, learned counsel for the Petitioner and Ms. D. Prasanna Lakshmi, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor for the respondents. 5. Learned counsel for the Petitioner/Accused would submit that the Petitioner has not committed the alleged offence. It is stated that if really the Petitioner forged the signatures of the Assistant District Fire Officer, Kurnool, the said Fire Officer would have given complaint against the Petitioner, but the same was not done. Learned counsel would further submit that there is no need to obtain Fire NOC by the Petitioner since he has constructed the building within 15 meters of height. The allegations leveled against the Petitioner are false and baseless. Hence, prayed to quash the case against the Petitioner. 6. Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor would submit that since there are specific allegations against the Petitioner, the proceedings against him cannot be quashed and that truthfulness of the said allegations must be revealed during trial.
The allegations leveled against the Petitioner are false and baseless. Hence, prayed to quash the case against the Petitioner. 6. Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor would submit that since there are specific allegations against the Petitioner, the proceedings against him cannot be quashed and that truthfulness of the said allegations must be revealed during trial. It is stated that there are no grounds to quash the proceedings at this stage. Hence, prayed to dismiss the petition. Point for Determination 7. Having heard the submissions of the learned counsel, the point that would emerge for determination is : Whether there are any justifiable grounds for quashment of the proceedings against the Petitioner in C.C.No.303 of 2020 on the file of the Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Nandyal, Kurnool District? Determination by the Court 8. A bare perusal of Section 482 makes it clear that the Code envisages that inherent powers of the High Court are not limited or affected so as to make orders as may be necessary; (i) to give effect to any order under the Code or, (ii) to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or, otherwise (iii) to secure ends of justice. A court while sitting in Section 482 jurisdiction is not functioning as a court of appeal or a court of revision. It must exercise its powers to do real and substantial justice, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case. These powers must be invoked for compelling reasons of abuse of process of law or glaring injustice, which are against sound principles of criminal jurisprudence. 9. The contention of the Petitioner is that he filed W.P.No.14542 of 2018 before this Court, and an order was passed by this Court directing the Respondent Nos.2 to 8 therein to issue renewal of affiliations for the institutions after receipt of requisite payment of requisite fees without insisting Fire No Objection Certificate from Respondent No.4 provided the buildings in the premises of the respective institutions are below 15 meters of height, as per National Building Code of India, 2016. It is his contention that since the Petitioner has constructed the building with height of 14.20 meters, which is below 15 meters, there is no necessity to submit Fire No Objection Certificate, and hence, the question of forging the signature of the Assistant District Fire Officer and thereby cheating the Government does not arise.
It is his contention that since the Petitioner has constructed the building with height of 14.20 meters, which is below 15 meters, there is no necessity to submit Fire No Objection Certificate, and hence, the question of forging the signature of the Assistant District Fire Officer and thereby cheating the Government does not arise. It is his further contention that after receipt of notice in the Contempt Case, the present complaint has been filed. In the present case, the Petitioner/Accused never denied about submission of Fire No Objection Certificate with particulars of the year 2016. Along with his application, the Petitioner enclosed the Xerox copy of the said certificate, but its original has not been filed either before District Fire Officer or SCERT. 10. It is a case of forging the signature of the Assistant District Fire Officer on the Fire No Objection Certificate, and producing the same as genuine and thereby cheating the Government. Whether the Petitioner’s institution require Fire No Objection Certificate or not, is not a matter for consideration before this Court. The allegation against the Petitioner is that he has enclosed a fake NOC as if it was issued by the Assistant District Fire Officer. In a criminal trial, it is for the prosecution to establish the guilt of the Accused beyond reasonable doubt. This Court cannot conduct a mini trial to establish the truth or otherwise of the allegations make against the Petitioner. Such being the case, the contention of the Petitioner that because their building is below the height of 15 meters, they do not require any NOC from the Fire Department, is of no use at this stage. The Investigating Officer tried to secure information from SCERT to get the original of NOC, but as per the information collected during the course of investigation, the certificate which was enclosed with their applicable is a Xerox copy. 11. It is pertinent to say that, to prove that the signature of the Assistant District Fire Officer, is forged, analysis of the Hand Writing Expert is required. But, in the present case, since the NOC that is enclosed, is a Xerox copy, expert cannot compare the same. It is a matter of evidence to be conducted during trial. These are disputed question of facts to be decided before the trial Court.
But, in the present case, since the NOC that is enclosed, is a Xerox copy, expert cannot compare the same. It is a matter of evidence to be conducted during trial. These are disputed question of facts to be decided before the trial Court. In such circumstances, this Court is of the view that there are no merits in the contentions raised by the Petitioner to quash the case against him and hence, the petition deserves dismissal. 12. In result, the Criminal Petition is dismissed. Pending applications, if any, shall stand closed.