Hyderabad, Aug. 13 -- The Telangana High Court has refused to quash a case of theft and house trespass against actors Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh Daggubati, film producer D Suresh Babu, D Abhiram and their accountant Gaddam Vishwanatham, holding that the existence of a parallel civil dispute does not by itself wipe out criminal liability.

Justice N Tukaramji held that while the dispute clearly had civil overtones arising from competing claims over lease rights and possession of a property, "merely because civil remedies have also been invoked cannot, by itself, extinguish criminal liability where the complaint independently discloses the commission of cognisable offences" - that is, offences serious enough for police to act on without a...