Telangana HC quashes potency test order against IPS trainee

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court on Wednesday, September 9, set aside a lower court order that had directed trainee IPS officer M Uday Krishna Reddy to undergo a potency test in connection with a rape case registered against him for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman colleague at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), Shivrampally.

Justice J Sreenivas Rao passed the order while hearing Reddy’s plea challenging the lower court’s order as illegal and arbitrary. The Rajendranagar court in Ranga Reddy district had earlier permitted the test under Section 52 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

Relying on principles laid down by the Madras and Karnataka High Courts in similar cases, the judge held that the prosecution’s application in this case was not in consonance with the precedent rulings cited.

The judge clarified that the order would not preclude the prosecution from filing an appropriate petition later, if the need arises, in accordance with the law.

A separate petition filed by Reddy seeking to quash the case against him is pending before the court.

Reddy, a suspended trainee IPS officer, was arrested earlier this year in connection with allegations of sexual assault and attempt to murder involving the woman colleague. He had first been booked in July for allegedly stalking and sexually harassing the complainant, also a trainee IPS officer, at SVPNPA.