Telangana HC exempts CM Revanth from personal appearance in election speech case

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court dismissed the need for the appearance of chief minister A Revanth Reddy at the court in a criminal case. The petitioner, CM Revanth Reddy, in the criminal petition, sought quashing of the proceedings in a complaint filed against him during an election speech he made in 2024.

The Single Bench comprising Justice Kunuru Lakshman on Friday dispensed with the appearance of the CM before the principal special judicial first class magistrate for excise cases at Nampally, Hyderabad Court.

The judge, during the course of arguments, said, “Since the petitioner is the chief minister of the Telangana State, how can he appear before the court? Hence, the CM’s appearance before the court is dispensed with.”

What is the case about?

Further, the judge issued notice to the complainant Kasam Venkateswarlu, state general secretary of the BJP from Nalgonda, who in his complaint alleged that CM Revanth, in a public meeting during the election campaign in 2024, called ‘Jana Jatara Sabha’ held on May 4 at Prakasam Stadium in Kothagudem, said that if the BJP comes to power, it will remove the reservations for SCs, STs and BCs.

This public meeting was attended by around 50,000 people and was covered widely by print and electronic media.

The content of the speech of the chief minister is nothing but a conspiracy to cheat the innocent voters, particularly SCs, STs and BC voters, and such a speech is defamatory and creates enmity and hatred amongst the people, the complaint said.

The complainant also spoke about a morphed video which showed Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, falsely saying that if the BJP comes to power, reservations to SCs, STs and BCs will be removed. Complaints have been made in various police stations, including the Telangana Cyber Crime Police Station and other states also and an investigation is going on.

The case hearing was adjourned to June 12 for the filing of counter-affidavits.