Telangana HC quashes cases against Osmania University Arts College principal

The Telangana High Court quashed two criminal cases against Osmania University Arts College Principal Prof C Kasim, holding that police violated mandatory procedure under Section 195 CrPC while booking him for alleged breach of prohibitory orders on campus

Hyderabad: Justice Tukaram of the Telangana High Court on Friday quashed two criminal cases registered against Osmania University Arts College Principal Professor C Kasim, holding that the prosecution was initiated in violation of the mandatory procedure prescribed under Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Allowing criminal petitions, the Court set aside the proceedings arising out of allegations that the professor had organised a dharna within the Osmania University campus in breach of an order issued by the Registrar prohibiting protests. The police had invoked Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code relating to disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant.

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Counsel for the petitioner, T Rahul, contended that offences under Section 188 IPC fall within the scope of Section 195 CrPC, which bars courts from taking cognizance unless a written complaint is filed by the concerned public servant before the jurisdictional Magistrate. It was argued that, instead of following this procedure, the police registered FIRs based on information received at the police station, rendering the proceedings legally unsustainable.

After examining the record, the Court held that the statutory requirement under Section 195 CrPC had not been complied with and that continuation of the criminal proceedings would amount to an abuse of process of law. Accordingly, the Court quashed both cases against Professor Kasim.