IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH :: AMARAVATI FRIDAY ,THE TWENTY FIRST DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 1947 OF 2025 Between: 1. Sirigiri Naga Lakshmi, W/o. Sirigiri Venkat Reddy, Aged about 52 years, Occ. Flouse Wife, R/o. 1-95, Takellapadu Post, Phirangipuram Mandal Guntur District. 2. Sirigiri Venkat Reddy, S/o. late S.Veera Reddy, Aged about 58 years, Occ. Government Employee at RTC R/o. 1-95, Takellapadu Post, Phirangipuram Mandal, Guntur District. 3. Smt. D.Triveni, W/o. D. Nagarjuna Reddy Aged about 33 years, Occ.House Wife, R/o. B-6, Powergrid, Ballagarh, Fariabad, Haryana - 121004. ...Petitioners/Accused No. 2 to 4 AND 1. The State of Andhra Pradesh, rep., by Mahila UPS Guntur, Guntur District through Public Prosecutor, High Court of Judicature at Amaravathi. 2. Kommareddy Jashwanthi, W/o. Sirigiri Ashok Reddy, Aged about 25 years, Occ. House Wife, R/o. 301, Sri Rama Nilayam, 3/3 Vikas Nagar, Guntur, Guntur District. ...Respondent/Defacto Complainant r rS Petition under Section 528 of B.N.S.S praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to call for the records in FIR No.28 of 2025 on the file of the Mahila UPS Police Station, Guntur, Guntur District for the offences punishable under Section 85, 351(2) of BNS and Section 3 and 4 of DP Act and quash the same in so far as Petitioners are concerned. I.A. NO: 2 OF 2025 Petition under Section 528 of B.N.S.S 2023 praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to grant stay of all further proceedings including the arrest of the Petitioner/s herein in FIR No.28 of 2025 on the file of the Mahila UPS Police Station, Guntur, Guntur District for the offences punishable under Section 85, 351(2) of BNS and Section 3 and 4 of DP Act. This Petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petition and upon hearing the arguments of Sri Papudippu Sashidar Reddy, Advocate for the Petitioners and the Assistant Public Prosecutor on behalf of the Respondent. The Court made the following Order: APHC010090412025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3396] FRIDAY ,THE TWENTY FIRST DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 1947 OF 2025 Between: ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED{S) Sirigiri Naga Lakshmi, and Others AND ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT(S) The State Of Andhra Pradesh and Others Counsel for the Petitioner/accused(S): 1.PAPUDIPPU SASHIDAR REDDY Counsel for the Respondent/complainant(S): 1. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR The Court made the following: ORDER: The instant Criminal Petition is filed under Section 528 of the The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (in short ‘BNSS’), by the Petitioners/Accused No.2 to 4, to quash the proceedings in Crime No.28 of 2025 of Mahila UPS Police Station, Guntur, for the offence punishable under Section 85, 351(2) of The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (in short ‘BNS’) and Section 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act. (I 2. Heard Sri P. Sashidhar Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioners and Ms. Priyanka Lakshmi, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor representing the State. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the petition may be disposed of by giving protection to the petitioner vide guidelines of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar\ 4. Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor, on instructions, would submit that the offences registered against the petitioners are punishable with less than years period of imprisonment and necessary direction may be given to the concerned Station House Officer. 5. Considering the submissions, this criminal petition is disposed of with the following; a. Investigating Officer is at liberty to complete the investigation, in accordance with law. b. In the event of any coercive action sought to be taken against the petitioner, concerned police authorities are directed to scrupulously follow the procedure prescribed under Section 41-A Cr.P.C, since Section 35(3) of BNSS is pari materia to Section 41-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the guidelines laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar’s case (supra). seven 6. It goes without saying that, if any charge sheet is filed in the above crime, the petitioners are at liberty to challenge the charge sheet, if he feels aggrieved by the same. 7. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is disposed of. (2014) 8 see 273 Pending applications, if any, shall stand closed. Sd/- A VIJAYA BABU ASSISTANT REGISTRAR //TRUE COPY// SECTION OFFICER To, 1. The Station House Officer, Mahila UPS Guntur, Guntur District 2. One CC to Sri. Papudippu Sashidar Reddy Advocate [OPUC] 3. Two CCs to the Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Amaravathi [OUT] 4. Three CD Copies Stu vna / m Jiz. HIGH COURT DATED:21/02/2025 ORDER CRLP.No.1947 of 2025 DISPOSING OF THE CRIMINAL PETITION