The Telangana High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against Telugu actors Daggubati Rana and Daggubati Venkatesh in the long-running dispute over Deccan Kitchen property in Hyderabad’s Film Nagar. The court’s decision means the criminal proceedings can continue before the trial court.
The case is related to alleged entry and demolition of the Deccan Kitchen premises. The property dispute has been over lease rights, possession, demolition of buildings and is a matter of legal status. K. Nandu Kumar submitted a complaint to the court that the Daggubati family illegally entered the leased premises and demolished the restaurant's structures.
According to information, the complainant had taken the property on lease from members of the Daggubati family and operated Deccan Kitchen at the Film Nagar location. The dispute soon became a legal one and the complainant alleged that the property was entered and structures were demolished even though there was still litigation about possession and related rights.
The legal issue has roots in earlier talks around the property. In 2022, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation partially demolished parts of the hotel and adjacent structures that they claimed were constructed illegally. It came to the Telangana High Court and the authorities were advised to maintain the status quo while the dispute was under review.
The dispute went on after the partial demolition. The complainant stated that the remaining structure was completely demolished in January 2024 and approached the Nampally court seeking action. The allegations eventually resulted in criminal proceedings against members of the Daggubati family.
The accused claim they are in dispute over property and lease rights. Their legal challenge before the High Court sought to have the criminal proceedings quashed, claiming that the issue was civil in nature, not criminal, and in that case, criminal proceedings should continue. The High Court declined to conclude at this stage because of its inherent jurisdiction.
The court’s refusal to quash the proceedings does not mean that Rana Daggubati, Venkatesh, or the other accused are guilty of the allegations. Rather, it means that the criminal case will be allowed to proceed through the appropriate judicial process. Questions concerning the facts, evidence, and responsibility of individual accused persons remain matters for trial proceedings.
The case has attracted considerable attention due to the popularity of the actors involved. Venkatesh is one of the most famous senior actors in Telugu cinema, and Rana Daggubati is most familiar for movies in Telugu and Indian cinema. Their involvement has brought more public interest to what is essentially a legal dispute concerning a commercial property.
Earlier in the proceedings, summons and directions for all members of the Daggubati family to appear before the Nampally court had been issued. Reports from 2025 and early 2026 indicated that the court was still addressing procedural problems, including personal appearance and bonds.
The criminal case was registered after the complainant took to court saying the police had not taken action on his complaint. The court subsequently directed the police to register a case. There were provisions concerning trespass and other alleged offences involved in the dispute, the police said in reports.
The property itself became the focal point of an intense legal spat between ownership, lease, and the construction and demolition of structures. The previous High Court cases on the demolition by the city added to the tension. In 2023, the Telangana High Court had criticised the GHMC for the demolition and issued directions regarding the property.
The decision by the High Court therefore marks a very procedural development and not the resolution of the dispute. With the petition to quash dismissed, there is now a case before the trial court for which the allegations and evidence can be examined in more detail.
If the accused are able to keep going, the case will have a chance to defend themselves through the judicial process. For the complainant, the decision allows for the criminal proceedings to proceed and for the allegations to be considered. In the end, the outcome is all dependent on what is there and what the courts will conclude.
Deccan Kitchen’s dispute also illustrates how conflicts over commercial properties can be complicated when civil and criminal proceedings overlap. Property, lease terms, demolition, and trespass are among the questions that can be debated in many legal venues, and courts need to determine the scope of each.
As the case moves forward, more hearings before the trial court will determine how the proceedings proceed. The High Court’s refusal to quash the case ensures that the allegations will not be terminated at the current stage on the grounds raised in the petition.
The development will keep Telugu cinema audiences interested because of the big names involved. But the legal processes should be viewed separately from the actors’ professional careers, and the accusations should not be interpreted as proof of wrongdoing unless proven through the judicial process.
For now, the main issue is the Deccan Kitchen property dispute and the criminal proceedings arising from allegations of trespass and demolition. With the Telangana High Court not acting to quash the case, the next stage will be the trial court as the parties continue their legal arguments.
