Telangana high court
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has made it clear that relief in a criminal case cannot be sought in a piecemeal manner based on grounds that were already available earlier.
The court observed that while there is no absolute bar on filing a second petition in the same matter, the petitioner must demonstrate a change in circumstances; otherwise, such a plea is not maintainable.
The observation came while Justice J Srinivas Rao was hearing a petition filed by Gangula Saidulu, who sought to quash a criminal case pending before the court at Nakrekal in Nalgonda district.
Appearing for the petitioner, counsel Vijay Kumar submitted that an earlier petition had been filed in 2024 seeking to quash the case. However, he argued that the advocate who represented the petitioner at that time had only sought exemption from personal appearance before the trial court and did not argue the case on the merits.
As the earlier plea was not examined in detail, the counsel urged the High Court to consider the present petition.
Opposing the plea, Assistant Public Prosecutor Jitender Rao raised objections to the maintainability of the second petition.
After hearing both sides, Justice Srinivas Rao noted that although there is no specific prohibition against filing a second petition seeking to quash criminal proceedings, the Supreme Court in Bishan Lal Verma vs State of Uttar Pradesh had clarified that a subsequent petition based on grounds already available at the time of the first petition is not maintainable.
The court found that the material relied upon in the present petition was the same as that available when the earlier petition was filed. In the absence of any change in circumstances, the High Court held that the matter could not be reopened and dismissed the plea.
This post was last modified on March 1, 2026 7:22 am