Madras High Court
CRL OP(MD)/22861/2026 of S. Nandhini Vs The State Of Tamil Nadu thro on 7 October 2026
CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 07-10-2026
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE R.VIJAYAKUMAR
CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026
CNR:{HCMD011239302026}
S. Nandhini
D/o.Late. V.Sanjeev,
1/3, Maamarathurai Santhu,
Agraharam,
Sathiyamangalam,
Erode District - 638 401.
..Petitioner(s)
Vs
1. The State Of Tamil Nadu through
Inspector Of Police,
All Women Police Station,
Bodinayakanur,
Theni District.
2. S.Sathish Kumar
S/o.Late.Selvam,
Balaji tiles,
Markaryan Kottai road,
Chinnamanur,
Theni District - 625 515.
3. S.Vijaya
D/o. Late Selvam,
5th VOC street,
Chinnamanaur,
Theni District.
4. S.Nitheesh Kumar
S/o. Late Selvam,
Balaji tiles,
Markaryan Kottai road,
Chinnamanur,
Theni District - 625 515.
__________
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CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026
5. G.Anusha @ Ulagalakshmi
D/o. Late Ganapathy,
Sivaram Vilas,
South Cart Street,
Uthamapallayam,
Theni District.
..Respondent(s)
PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition is filed under Section 528 of BNSS Act, to call for the records in CRL.M.P.No.2480 of 2025 on the file of the Learned Judicial Magistrate, Bodinayakanur and set aside the order dated 31.12.2025 and thus render justice.
For Petitioner(s):
Mr.N.Ananda Padmanabhan
Senior Counsel
for
M/S.APN Law Associates
For Respondent(s):
M/S. V. Shathurthi Raja,
Government Advocate (crl side)
For R1
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ORDER
The present petition has been filed by the complainant in Crl.M.P. No. 2480 of 2025, on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate, Bodinayakanur, seeking to set aside the order dated 31.12.2025, whereby the private complaint was dismissed for default.
2. A perusal of the records reveal that, based on the complaint lodged by the petitioner, an FIR was registered in Crime No. 6 of 2019 on the file of the first respondent police on 30.05.2019. Upon completion of __________
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CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026 the investigation, a referred charge sheet (RCS) report was filed before the jurisdictional Court on 11.10.2019. Thereafter, the petitioner filed a protest petition, which was allowed by the trial Court in Crl.M.P. No.112 of 2024, with a direction to the respondent police to conduct further investigation. Upon completion of the further investigation, an RCS report was again filed on 06.05.2021 in RCS.No.122 of 2022. Challenging the said report, the petitioner filed Crl.M.P. No. 2480 of 2025, protesting against the RCS report.
3. On 17.12.2025, the learned Judicial Magistrate, Bodinayakanur, passed an order treating the protest petition as a private complaint and directing the proceedings to continue in accordance with Section 223 of the BNSS. Accordingly, the petitioner was directed to appear for examination on oath on 18.12.2025. However, on 18.12.2025, the complainant was absent, and the matter was adjourned to 24.12.2025. On 24.12.2025, as the learned Judicial Magistrate was on casual leave, the matter was adjourned to 29.12.2025. In the meantime, the petitioner filed an application seeking permission to appear before the Court through video conferencing, which was returned. Thereafter, the petitioner was directed to appear before the Court for the recording of her sworn statement on 30.12.2025. __________
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CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026
4. On 30.12.2025, the complainant filed an online application, pursuant to which she was directed to appear in person on 31.12.2025 to record her sworn statement, as a last opportunity. However, by the impugned order dated 31.12.2025, the learned trial Judge dismissed the private complaint for default, holding that the complainant was deliberately evading the court proceedings. Aggrieved by the same, the present petition has been filed.
5. The learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the advocates were boycotting Court proceedings during the relevant period. The petitioner was unable to appear before the Court in person due to concerns for her safety. Therefore, she filed an application seeking permission to appear through video conferencing. However, the application was merely returned without any orders being passed thereon. The petitioner was thus denied the opportunity to record her sworn statement through video conferencing. __________
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CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026
6. In such circumstances, where serious charges have been alleged and the petitioner was unable to appear before the Court, the dismissal of the private complaint for default would cause serious prejudice to the petitioner. He further pointed out that the FIR was initially registered under various provisions of law, including Section 376 of the IPC.
7. Heard the submissions made on either and perused the materials available on record.
8. This Court can take judicial notice of the fact that advocates abstained from appearing before the courts during the month of December in protest against the e-filing procedures. In such circumstances, the petitioner could not appear before the concerned Court for the purpose of recording of the sworn statement. Therefore, dismissing the private complaint for non-appearance, particularly when the applications seeking permission to appear online had been rejected, would cause serious prejudice to the petitioner. __________
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CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026
9. In such view of the matter, the impugned order dated 31.12.2025 is hereby set aside and the trial Court is directed to record the Sworn statement of the petitioner herein and proceed in accordance with law.
10. With the said observations, this Criminal Original Petition is allowed. 07-10-2026 Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order Neutral Citation: Yes/No gvn __________
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CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026 To
1. The Judicial Magistrate, Bodinayakanur.
2. The Inspector Of Police All Women Police Station, Bodinayakanur, Theni District.
3. The Additional Public Prosecutor, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Madurai. __________
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CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026 R.VIJAYAKUMAR, J. gvn CRL OP(MD) No. 22861 of 2026 07-10-2026 __________
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