Hyderabad Court Issues Defamation Case Notice to Telangana CM

A court in Hyderabad has ordered that a notice be sent to Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy in a defamation case. The case was filed by Kasam Venkateshwarlu, the State General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Venkateshwarlu claims that Chief Minister Reddy made false statements saying the BJP would abolish reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward Classes if they came to power.

The Special Judicial First Class Magistrate for Excise Cases in Hyderabad said the notice should be issued under Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Code by September 25. The court believes there is enough evidence to proceed with a case against the Chief Minister under Sections 499 (defamation) and 125 of the People’s Representation Act.

Venkateshwarlu filed the complaint after Revanth Reddy made the statements during a speech at an election meeting in Kothagudem on May 4. Venkateshwarlu says these comments were false and misleading.

The case was first heard on May 17 but was postponed to May 22. Another hearing took place on May 24, but it was delayed again to July 3 because the complainant was not present. Upset by these delays, Venkateshwarlu went to the Telangana High Court. Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy instructed the lower court to handle the case quickly.

Following this order, the Magistrate reviewed the petition again and decided to issue a notice to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, moving the defamation case forward.