`In pursuit of justice': Only in 4% cases, MPs, MLAs convicted in Telangana

Hyderabad: On January 29, 2021, Special Sessions Judge sentenced Goshamahal BJP MLA T. Raja Singh to a one-year jail term for criminal assault and threatening the police in 2015. A fine of Rs 5,000 was also slapped on him.

This special court was dealing with cases related to MPs and MLAs. Telangana High Court later granted him bail. This case was about a 'Beef Festival' that was organized in 2015 at the Osmania University by the Joint Action Committee of students. This was one of the first convictions in the Special Court for MPs and MLAs since 2018.

Out of the total 395 cases disposed of in Special Court since 2018, only in 15 (around 4%), the accused have been convicted. In 380 (96%) cases, the accused have been acquitted. Out of 15 convictions, only in 4 cases, have MLAs and MPs been sentenced to jail terms. In the remaining 11 cases, a fine of Rs 600 to Rs 6500 has been imposed.

A large number of accused Members of Legislative Assembly and Members of Parliament from Telangana are being acquitted in Special Court due to a lack of proper persuasion from the prosecution. In cases where imprisonment was awarded, the accused got a stay from the High Court.

The acquittals

MLA of Chandrayangutta and AIMIM floor leader in the state Akbarudin Owaisi was booked under Section 153 – A, 188 of IPC, and Section 125 of Representation of the People Act for delivering a provocative speech in public. The entire meeting speech was video graphed and police seized the videocassette. Sub Inspector of Police Chandrayangutta registered the case in crime No. 77 of 2004.

After the inquiry, the case was referred to the government for permission to prosecute the accused. After a delay of 10 years, permission was accorded to prosecute the accused in 2014. It took another 4 years for the police to file the charge sheet.

The XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in 2018 took cognizance of the offense under Section 153 – A, 188 of I.P.C. and Section. 125 of R.P. Act and numbered the charge sheet as C.C. No. 501 of 2018. Consequent to the establishment of the Special Court this matter was transferred to the Special Court.

On November 16, 2021, the judge of the Special Court delivered the Judgment. "The court thinks that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused hence the accused is found not guilty of the charges," the judge said.

Top politicians including Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, K.T. Rama Rao, and Bandaru Dattatreya have been acquitted in most of the cases.

BJP MLA from Goshamahal T. Raja Singh has been acquitted in 10 cases. KCR has been acquitted in eight cases. KTR, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Industry and Commerce, Information Technology, and Finance Minister T. Harish Rao were acquitted in three cases each.

Bandaru Dattatreya, Governor of Himachal Pradesh and BJP leader, Union Minister of Home for State, G. Kishan Reddy, and Congress Working President and MP from Medchal A. Revanth Reddy have also been acquitted.

Akbaruddin Owaisi was also acquitted in two cases, while the minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, and Cinematography, Talasani Srinivas Yadav was acquitted in three cases. Politicians such as K. Kavitha, Eatala Rajendra, K. Vidya Sagar Rao, and T. Padma Rao are among 49 politicians who got acquitted in a total of 86 cases.