Telangana HC stays case on BJP’s D Arvind for posting morphed image of KCR

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court, on Friday stayed the criminal probe against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind for posting a cartoon of chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao holding a liquor bottle on December 31, 2021.

A bench headed by a single judge, chief justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday stopped proceedings on the file of special JFCM, Hyderabad for the offences registered against BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind, for portraying KCR in poor light by depicting him holding a liquor bottle in his hands.

Arvind had shared a cartoon on his Facebook account, morphing a video initially produced by cartoonist Mrutyunjay, which portrayed KCR with liquor.

TRS social media convener Y Satish Reddy filed a complaint with the Banjara Hills police, and an FIR was filed against Arvind after the video went viral on social media.

Rachna Reddy, senior counsel appearing for Arvind, informed the court that the Sections inserted in the FIR, 504, 505(2), 153A IPC, and 67 IT Act, were not relevant to the offence alleged in the complaint because the video does not promote enmity between two groups, no abusive language was used in the Facebook post, no provocative speeches were made, and no obscenity was made out in the video.

The senior counsel hence asked the court to stay the proceedings in the FIR.