Telangana High Court
Rabide Arjun Alias Arjun Rade vs The State Of Telangana on 24 September, 2025
THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA
CRIMINAL PETITION No.11780 of 2025
ORDER:
This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short 'BNSS') for grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioners, who is arrayed as accused Nos.1, 2, 3 and 6 in Crime No.118 of 2025 of Bazarhatnoor Police Station, Adilabad District, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 109, 118(1), 296(b) read with 3(5) of BNS.
2. The brief facts of the case are that, on 06.08.2025, the de-facto complainant lodged a complaint with the Police stating that on 05.08.2025 at around 08:00 hours, while she was cooking in her kitchen, Arjun, Gopichand, Kavitha, Usharsingh, Kallibai, and Laxmi approached her, accusing her of practicing black magic. Gopichand, Arjun, and Kavitha forcibly entered her house, dragged her out by her hair, verbally abused her in filthy language, and assaulted her with sticks, causing her to lose consciousness. She was then shifted to the house of Vinod. At that time, her husband 2 SKS,J Crl.P.No.11780 of 2025 Parushuram, uncle Mohan Singh, son Pavan Kumar, and aunt Chandrakala were present. The same group of villagers assaulted them with sticks and a button knife. Her husband sustained seven stitches on his back and two on his head. Her uncle suffered swelling on his left arm and back, and the hand of her aunt was fractured due to the beating. Based on the said complaint, a case was registered against them for the abovementioned offences.
3. Heard Sri S. Ravi Kiran Reddy, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners as well as Sri Arun Kumar Doddla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing on behalf of the respondent - State.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners were innocent and that the complainant had filed a case against accused Nos.1 to 6 based on unverified allegations and the police, without verifying the facts, registered the case, prompting the petitioners to file Criminal Petition No.11116 of 2025 and that after hearing the arguments, the Hon'ble Court disposed of the matter by issuing notice under Section 35(3) of the BNSS. He further 3 SKS,J Crl.P.No.11780 of 2025 submitted that the police, without conducting any proper enquiry, arbitrarily upgraded the nature of the injuries from "simple" to "grievous" and altered the charges to Section 109 of the BNS solely to harass the petitioners and that there were no specific allegations against the present petitioners. Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioners by allowing this criminal petition.
5. On the other hand, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor vehemently opposed the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioners, contending that the case was initially registered under Sections 118(1), 296(b) read with 3(5), and that after obtaining the medical certificate, the charges were altered and that the petitioners had attacked the injured and witnesses with an axe, causing grievous injuries to the head, accordingly, the charges were modified to include Section 109. In view of the gravity of the allegations, he prayed the Court to dismiss the criminal petition.
6. In light of the submissions made by both learned counsel and upon perusal of the material available on record, it was noted that although this Court had initially directed 4 SKS,J Crl.P.No.11780 of 2025 issuance of notice under Section 35(3) of the BNSS, the offences alleged were punishable with imprisonment up to seven years. Subsequently, based on the injury certificate, the relevant provisions were altered. The allegations against the petitioners were found to be grave in nature, involving assault with an axe and a button knife. Considering the seriousness of the allegations and the ongoing stage of investigation, this Court was not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioners. Hence, the petition is liable to be dismissed.
7. Accordingly, the criminal petition is dismissed.
Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.
_______________ K. SUJANA, J Date: 24.09.2025 SS