Hyderabad: The smooth police bail for Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Putta Mahesh Kumar, arrested under various non-bailable offences for drug consumption, poses a significant question: Is justice equal for all?
Kumar represents the Eluru parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha. On March 14, he, along with former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy, was among 11 who tested positive for consuming cocaine at a farmhouse at Moinabad near Hyderabad. About 0.26 grams of cocaine were recovered.
The raid was conducted by the Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) Force, along with local police teams.
A case under sections 8 (C), 22 (A), 27, 29 of the Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act; 25 (1-B) (a) and 30 of the Arms Act; 34 (a) of the Telangana State Excise Act; and 109, 131 r/w 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at the Moinabad Police Station.
The following day, Kumar was granted a station bail in view of the ongoing Budget Session in Parliament. As for others, they are under judicial remand.
A station bail, which comes under regular bail, allows the investigating officer (in this case, a police officer) to release an accused when the sections invoked are bailable.
However, except for Section 30 of the Arms Act, most of the sections invoked are non-bailable, raising questions about what circumstances Kumar was released under. Surely, Parliament attendance cannot be the only reason.
Securing bail under the NDPS Act or the Telangana State Excise Act is not easy. It depends on how much contraband was seized or consumed. Only the court can grant bail in this case, not the police.
Which was not the case for Kumar.
The TDP MP, later, released a video on X, claiming he was innocent. “I did not do anything wrong during the dinner, and no mistake was committed on my part,” his post read, adding, “I would never betray the trust placed in me by the people of Eluru district.”
While the Telugu Desam Party said the party leadership has taken “serious note” of the allegations and reportedly directed Kumar to submit a written explanation within five days, the swift bail has triggered a larger question: Is justice only for the poor and powerless?
TDP, led by veteran leader and incumbent Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chadrababu Naidu, is an important ally to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.
It is with Naidu’s and his long-time collegue and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar’s support that the BJP was able to secure a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Last year, during an event, CM Naidu made strong remarks against drug abuse, warning that there is no place for drug abuse in Andhra. “We constituted EAGLE, and we have our eyes on you. No one will be spared. There is no place for you here,” he had said.
But does the law change when it comes to your own party members?
As for the rest of the 10 arrested at the same farmhouse — none of them MPs, none of them with powerful political connections, they were not afforded the same relief. For them, the law does not distinguish between the powerful and the powerless. But when its application appears to vary so visibly depending on who is in the dock, the questions it raises are not easy to brush aside.
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