LI Network
Published on: January 11, 2024 at 11:00 IST
The Telangana High Court has revoked a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW), stating that the presence of the accused is not mandatory during proceedings concerning the recall of the NBW. The court clarified that the presence of the accused’s counsel would suffice.
Justice P. Madhavi Devi issued this order in response to a petition filed by the accused challenging a Judicial Magistrate First Class’s decision, which dismissed the accused’s plea to set aside the NBW due to non-appearance.
Citing the case of R. Sundar v. The Sub-inspector of police station, Lalgudi, the accused argued that his presence at every hearing was unnecessary, and his counsel’s attendance should be satisfactory. The petitioner also submitted medical certificates to validate his inability to appear in court.
The petitioner alleged that despite submitting medical certificates, the Trial Court kept his petition pending for a week before dismissing it. Furthermore, the accused claimed that, under the pretext of the NBW, he was unlawfully detained by police officials, who coerced him into making payments to the complainant.
In line with the cited judgment, the Telangana High Court concurred that the accused’s presence need not be mandatory for NBW recall proceedings. After reviewing the medical certificates, the court decided to recall the NBW issued on October 5, 2023, against the petitioner.
The Court quashed the docket order dated December 5, 2023, passed by the trial court. The High Court granted the trial court the liberty to proceed with the matter in accordance with the law.
The petition, numbered CrlP 12140 of 2023, was allowed, resulting in the retraction of the Non-Bailable Warrant. Suresh Babu Kullapareddy represented the petitioner, while the Public Prosecutor served as the counsel for the respondent.