Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy has received major legal relief after the Supreme Court upheld the Telangana High Court’s decision to quash an FIR filed against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The apex court dismissed a petition challenging the High Court’s order and described the case as politically motivated.
SC warns against turning “courts into arenas for political battles”
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice VM Pancholi made significant observations while hearing the petition on Monday. The court cautioned against turning courts into arenas for political battles driven by personal or political vendettas.
The case dates back to January 12, 2016, when Revanth Reddy was a Member of Parliament. A complainant, N Peddiraju, alleged that two individuals, A Kondal Reddy and E Lakshmaiah, demolished a room using a JCB at society land in Survey No. 127 at Gopanpally in Hyderabad.
He further alleged that when he objected, he was abused using casteist slurs and claimed that the accused had acted at the instigation of Revanth Reddy. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered against Reddy under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The Telangana High Court had earlier quashed the FIR, prompting the complainant to approach the Supreme Court. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that two witnesses had stated that the accused acted on Revanth Reddy’s provocation.
However, the bench questioned the credibility of these claims, noting that the witnesses had only relied on hearsay and had not directly seen Revanth Reddy at the scene.
The judges observed that no one had confirmed his presence at the location on the day of the incident. The court further stated that even the filing of a chargesheet does not automatically validate allegations without credible evidence.
“Unfortunately, this case appears to have personal elements. We can understand what lies between the lines of the petition. Courts should not be used as political battlegrounds,” the Chief Justice remarked during the proceedings.
SC affirms HC’s order
The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the petition, thereby affirming the High Court’s order quashing the FIR against Revanth Reddy.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared on behalf of the Telangana government during the hearing.
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