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3mo ago

Telangana High Court Curbs FIRs Over Political Posts, Quashes Cases Against BRS Activist

The order mandates locus standi checks, preliminary inquiry, high thresholds for incitement, with arrest safeguards to prevent mechanical policing.

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File photo of the Telangana High Court. | Wikimedia Commons
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A man wearing a white shirt with black vertical stripes is standing indoors. He has short black hair, a mustache, and a small tilak on his forehead. Behind him, there is a large framed portrait of BRS president KCR in a white outfit, smiling with hands folded.

Overview

  • The court set binding guidelines instructing police not to mechanically register cases over harsh or offensive political speech unless there is incitement to violence or an imminent threat to public order.
  • Justice N. Tukaramji quashed three FIRs against BRS social media activist Durgam Shashidhar Goud (Nalla Balu) after finding his tweets to be political criticism or satire protected by Article 19(1)(a).
  • Defamation was reaffirmed as a non-cognisable offence requiring a complaint by an aggrieved person and, where necessary, a magistrate’s order before police action.
  • The directives require verification of complainant standing, preliminary inquiry for cognisable offences, prior public prosecutor opinion in sensitive speech cases, compliance with Arnesh Kumar arrest safeguards, and closure of frivolous or politically motivated complaints under BNSS Section 176(1).
  • A separate bench days earlier quashed three cases against BRS leader K.T. Rama Rao, reinforcing limits on multiple FIRs for the same allegation as the party now prepares petitions for other activists.