Case Title: Nara Chandrababu Naidu Versus State of Maharashtra and others
Case No: CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 3428 OF 2023
Decided on: 10th May , 2024
Quorum: HON’BLE JUSTICE MANGESH S. PATIL & HON’BLE JUSTICE SHAILESH P. BRAHME
Facts of the case
Sections 143 and 188 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act were allegedly used to justify the arrest of Mr. Naidu and his colleagues, totaling 66 people. After being placed under magistrate’s remand, they were eventually told to be transferred to the Central Jail Aurangabad. The accused spent the night in a makeshift jail after they refused to comply and insisted on air-conditioned busses for the trip. They were accused of hurling insults and refusing to board the air-conditioned buses the next morning, which resulted in the charges.
Issues
1.Whether Mr. Naidu and his friends’ arrest and subsequent treatment follow the law?
2.Whether the accused’s request for air-conditioned buses serve as a legal justification for their refusal to cooperate with the jail transfer procedure?
3.Whether the things that Mr. Naidu and his friends did within the jail grounds legal?
Legal Provisions
Sections 353, 324, 332, 336, 337, 504, 506 read with Sections 109 and 34 of the IPC, which deal with assaulting or using criminal force against a public servant, causing harm with dangerous weapons, rash acts endangering the lives of others, intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace, and criminal intimidation, were among the charges brought against Mr. Naidu and others.
Appellant’s Contentions
Mr. Naidu argued that the accusations made against him and his friends were politically motivated and without merit. He maintained that considering the participants’ health issues and circumstances, the request for air-conditioned buses was legitimate. In addition, he asserted that the whole incident was exaggerated and that the jail staff was not meant to suffer any physical harm
Respondent’s Contentions
The state of Maharashtra argued that Mr. Naidu and his allies had disobeyed the state’s law enforcement agencies and violated discipline by refusing to cooperate with the prison officials. They contended that the accused should have been sued because of his disruptive behavior
Court Analysis and Judgement
The 2010 case against Nara Chandrababu Naidu, the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, was not overturned by the Bombay High Court. In order to have offenses covered by several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) punished, Naidu had filed a criminal application seeking the quashment of the crime, chargesheet, and criminal case. The IPC’s Sections 353, 324, 332, 336, 337, 504, 506, read with Sections 109 and 34, were the offenses for which the case was filed. The police’s investigation, the magistrate’s cognizance, and the registration of the offense against the petitioners were all deemed lawful by the court. The judges of the Supreme Court rendered two different rulings regarding the quashing of the FIR against Chandrababu Naidu. Judge Aniruddha Bose in part granted Naidu’s appeal, ruling that any inquiry or probe of a public worker connected to official duties must have permission from the relevant authority in accordance with Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
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Judgement Analysis Written by – K.Immey Grace
