High Court Dismisses Petition as Petitioner Was Not aggrieved person

The High Court threw out the writ petition, saying it couldn’t stand because the petitioner wasn’t actually affected. The condition the petitioner challenged was aimed at the Income Tax Department not at him.

Fact of the Case

Peddada Raghavendra, the petitioner, filed a writ petition to challenge a condition in an order from the trial court dated 02.01.2025. This case was about Rs 37,00,000 seized in a criminal matter. of that, Rs 12,00,000 had already been handed back to him. The rest Rs 25,00,000 was kept with the Principal Director of Income Tax (Investigation), Hyderabad. The trial court also said the Income Tax Department had to execute a bond for Rs 25,00,000. Raghavendra called this condition illegal and wanted the remaining money transferred.

Issue
Can the petitioner even challenge a condition the court placed on a third party (the Income Tax Department), or bring a writ petition about it?

Court Observation

The Court pointed out that the trial court’s condition targeted the Principal Director of Income Tax not the petitioner. Since Raghavendra wasn’t actually affected by this condition, he could not claim to be an “aggrieved person.” Only someone directly impacted by an order can go to Court under writ jurisdiction.

Judgement

The High Court decided Raghavendra had no standing and dismissed the petition. He got no relief, and there was no order about costs either.