Smt. Vijayalakshmi Subbaraju Shetty v. Sri Harinath R Shetty
Case brief
What is this about?
Karnataka High Court, Bengaluru (single judge, S Vishwajith Shetty, J.), CRL.RP No. 242 of 2020, decided 23.01.2026. Key topics: Section 302 Cr.PC application to continue criminal proceedings after complainant's death; substitution of legal heir / claimed son in a private complaint; absence of proof of kinship leading to rejection; Section 156(3) Cr.PC police reference and B-final (closure) report; rejection of closure report and issuance of summons (C.C.No.23526/2007, II Addl. CMM); purely civil dispute wrongly prosecuted criminally; stale criminal proceedings (complaint of 2004, 22 years elapsed); revisional interference corrected under S.397/401 Cr.PC; quietus to long-pending case. Useful when arguing that a claimed relative cannot step into a deceased complainant's shoes without material proof, and that civil-nature disputes with a closure report should not be kept alive indefinitely.