IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI WEDNESDAY, THE EIGHTEENTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE -'V .3 PRESENT '-..A THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE V.GOPALA KRISHNA RAO " TRANSFER CRIMINAL PETITION No.36 of 2025 i< Between; 1. Palakaluri Sravani, W/o. Palkaluri Venkatesh, Aged about 35 years, Occ: Housewife, R/o. D.No. 61-9-497, Satyanarayana Swamy Temple, 3^^ lane. Old Guntur, Kothapeta Post, Guntur, Guntur District. 2. Palakaluri Sai Babu, S/o. Venkata Lakshmi Narayana, Aged about 43 years, Occ: Marketing Executive, R/o. 16-17-119, Satyanarayana Swamy Temple Street, Old Guntur, Kothapeta Post, Guntur, Guntur District. ...Petitioners/Accused Nos.4 & 5 AND 1. The State of Andhra Pradesh, Through S.H.O. Mahila Police Station, Visakhapatnam City, Represented by Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh. 2. Kocherla Lakshmi Tirupathama @ Inampudi Lakshmi Tirupatamma, W/o. K Sri Harsha, Aged about 35 years, Occ: Housewife, R/o. D.No. 10-145, Chavali, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh - 522261. ...Respondents Transfer Criminal Petition filed under Section 447 of BNSS (under Section 407 of Cr.P.C), praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to withdraw the C.C. No. 567 of 2024 pending on the file of the Hon’ble Court of I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam and to transfer the same to Hon’ble Family Court- cum-XII Additional District Judge, Guntur at Guntur district or any other competent court in Guntur, Guntur District. LA. NO: 1 OF 2025 Petition under Section 447(6) of BNSS (under Section 407(6) of Cr.P.C praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to stay all the further proceedings in C.C. No. 567 of 2024 pending on the file of the Hon’ble Court of I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam pending disposal of the above TR.C.M.P. This Petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petition and upon hearing the arguments of Sri Shaik Asif, Advocate for the Petitioners and the Public Prosecutor on behalf of the Respondent No.1 and none appeared for the Respondent No.2. The Court made the following: THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V. GOPALA KRISHNA RAO TRANSFER CRIMINALPETITIONNo.36 of 2025 ORDER: The petitioners herein have filed the present Transfer Criminal Petition under Section 407 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking to withdraw C.C.No.567 of 2024 on the file of the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Visakhapatnam and transfer the same to the Family Court-cum-XII Additional District Judge, Guntur, or any other competent Court in Guntur District. The case of the petitioners in brief is as follows: 2. I. The petitioners herein are arrayed as Accused Nos.4 and 5 in C.C.No.567 of 2024, which is pending on the file of the Court of the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam. It is the case of the petitioners that, pursuant to a complaint lodged by the 2^^^^ respondent, a case was registered in Crime No.268 of 2024 by the Station House Officer, Mahila Police Station, Visakhapatnam City, for the offences punishably under Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (for short, 'the B.N.S.') and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. After completion of investigation, the police filed the charge sheet and the same was numbered as Act, 2023, 2 VGKR, J Tr.Crl.P.No.36 of2025 Dated: 18.06.2025 C.C.No.567 of 2024 before the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam. II. The grounds urged by the petitioners’ seeking transfer is that both the petitioners are residing in Guntur and the petitioner No.2 is working as a Marketing Executive in Andhra Pradesh Mark-Fed in Guntur, it is very difficult for them to travel to attend the Court proceedings before the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Visakhapatnam, in connection with the said C.C.No.567 of 2024, and that the petitioners are constrained to file this present petition. 3. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor, appearing on behalf of respondent No. 1/State, submitted that the learned I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam, has already framed charges in C.C.No.567 of 2024, and the matter is now posted for commencement of trial on 29.07.2025. It has been brought to the notice of this Court, by the learned 4. counsel for the petitioners that petitioner No.1 is the sister-in-law of respondent No.2, and the petitioner No.2 is the brother-in-law of petitioner No.1. Both the petitioners have been arrayed as Accused Nos.4 and 5, respectively, in C.C.No.567 of 2024, which is pending 3 VGKR, J Tr.Crl.P.No.36 of2025 Dated: 18.06.2025 before the Court of the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam. 5. Heard learned counsel appearing on both sides. 6. It is well settled that while considering the transfer of a Criminal Case, the transfer of the case has to be accepted in exceptional cases, considering the fact that the transfers may unnecessarily aspirations on the State Judiciary and the Prosecution Agency. The Apex Court in a Yadav &Anr Vs Union of India &ors^ held as follows; case of Nahar Singh “24. Thus, although no rigid and inflexible rule or test could be laid down to decide whether or not power under Section 406 of the Cr.P.C. should beexercised, it is manifest from a bare reading of sub-sections (2) and (3) of the said Section and on an analysis of the decisions of this Court that an order of transfer of trial is not to be passed as a matter of routine or merely because an interested party has expressed some apprehension about the of a trial. proper conduct This power has to be exercised cautiously and i exceptional situations, where it becomes in necessary to do so to provide credibility to the trial. Some of the broad factors could be kept in mind while considering an application for transfer of the trial are: which (i) when it appears that the State machinery or prosecution is acting hand in glove with the accused, and there is likelihood of miscarriage of justice due to the lackadaisical attitude of the prosecution; '2011(1) see 307 4 VGKR, J Tr.Crl.P.No.36 of2025 Dated: 18.06.2025 (ii) when there is material to show that the accused may influence the prosecution witnesses or cause physical harm to the complainant; (Hi) comparative inconvenience and hardships likely to be caused to the accused, the complainant/the prosecution and the witnesses, besides the burden to be borne by the State Exchequer in making payment of travelling and other expenses of the official and non-official witnesses; (iv) a communally surcharged atmosphere, indicating some proof of inability of holding fair and impartial trial because of the accusations made and the nature of the crime committed by the accused; and (v) existence of some material from which it can be inferred that the some persons are so hostile that they are interfering or are likely to interfere either directly or indirectly with the course of justice. ” 7. As seen from the material available on record, pursuant to a complaint lodged by the de-facto complainant (LW-1), who is a resident of Visakhapatnam, the Station House Officer, Mahila Police Station, Visakhapatnam City, has registered a Crime in Cr.No.268 of 2024 for the offences punishable under Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short, ‘the B.N.S.’), and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. After completion of the investigation, a charge sheet was filed by the Police, which has been taken cognizance of and numbered as ■■ t'- 5 VGKR, J Tr.Crl.P.No.36 of2025 Dated: 18.06.2025 C.C.No.567 of 2024, which is pending before the Court of the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam. 8. It was brought to the notice of this Court by the learned / ; Assistant Public Prosecutor appearing on behalf of respondent No. 1/State, that the petitioners herein filed a quash petition before this Court i.e., Crl.P.No.4183 of 2025 and this Court has dispensed with the personal attendance of the petitioners herein before the trial Court in connection with C.C.No.567 of 2024 and the said case is posted to 29.07.2025 for commencing the trial. 9. In view of the aforesaid reasons, I am of the considered view that there are no valid grounds for the petitioners for seeking to withdraw C.C.No.567 of 2024 on the file of the I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Visakhapatnam and transfer the same to the Family Court-cum-XII Additional District Judge, Guntur or any other competent Court in Guntur District and this Court do not find any merits and subsistence in the contentions taken by the petitioners and as such, the present Transfer Criminal Petition is liable to be dismissed as devoid of merits. 10. With the above observations, the Transfer Criminal Petition is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. % 6 VGKR, J Tr.Cri.P.No.36 of 2025 Dated: 18.06.2025 As a sequel, miscellaneous petitions, if any pending and the Interim order granted earlier, if any, shall stand clo^d. Sd/- K J RAJA BABU ASSISTANT REGISTRAR //TRUE COPY// \ SECTION OFFICER To The I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam District. Two CCs to the Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravathi[OUT] One CC to Sri Shaik Asif, Advocate [OPUC] Three CD Copies 1. 2. 3. 4. TK NM HIGH COURT DATED:18/06/2025 ORDER TRCRLP.No.36 of 2025 DISMISSING THE TRANSFER CRIMINAL PETITION