Telangana HC grants CM Revanth exemption from appearance in 2021 MCC violation case

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court granted conditional relief to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in a 2021 criminal case, dispensing with his need to appear at every hearing before the Principal Special Judicial First Class Magistrate for Excise Cases in Hyderabad.

Conditional direction by court

Justice Kunuru Lakshman, heading the single-judge bench, ruled on Monday that while routine appearances are waived, the Chief Minister must present himself before the trial court in CC No. 45/2024 whenever specifically required by the magistrate.

What is the case about?

The case arises from FIR No. 211/2021, registered on October 24, 2021, at Kamalapur police station, Warangal district. At the time, Revanth Reddy was serving as a Member of Parliament from the Congress Party.

He is named as Accused No. 7, along with party leaders K Satyanarayana, G Charan Patel, Balasani Ramesh Goud, Podeti Bixapati, Thoutam Ravinder and Balmoori Venkat Narsing Rao.

Police allege that the leaders held a gathering of 2,500 party workers, exceeding the permitted limit of 1,000, thereby violating the Model Code of Conduct, Covid-19 safety regulations and provisions under Section 188 IPC and Section 51(b) of the Disaster Management Act.

Petition to quash proceedings

CM Revanth has approached the High Court seeking to quash the proceedings pending before the Excise Court. The High Court has issued notices to the State and the complainant, directing them to file their counters by September 9.