SC rejects plea against HC order quashing 2016 FIR against Telangana CM Reddy

New Delhi, Feb 16 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an appeal against the Telangana High Court order quashing a 2016 FIR against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the IPC.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said the high court “minutely considered the facts of the case and found that no prima facie case is made out against respondent number 2 (Revanth Reddy)”.

The bench said that it was not giving a clean chit to the chief minister, but the high court's views seemed to be “perfectly fine” and more plausible in facts and circumstances of the case.

The CJI said the political battles should not be fought in courts.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the chief minister, termed petitioner N Peddi Raju as an adventurous litigant and said earlier he had made allegations against the high court judge in the case.

On July 17 last year, the high court had quashed the FIR against the chief minister.

The case, registered at Gachibowli police station in 2016, named Reddy as accused no. 3.

The complainant, associated with the SC Mutually Aided Cooperative Housing Society Limited, had alleged that at Revanth Reddy’s instigation, his brother Kondal Reddy and others trespassed on the Society’s land in Gopanpally village and demolished two rooms using an earth-moving machine, intending to occupy the land.

The complainant also alleged they made "casteist remarks" against him.

CM Reddy later approached the high court in 2020, seeking to quash the case.

His counsel argued that Reddy was "not present at the scene of the offence".

The high court quashed the criminal case on the ground that the prosecution had failed to produce any evidence linking the accused to the incident.

In an earlier round of litigation, the top court had taken a very strong note of the scandalous and scurrilous allegations made against the high court judge which had passed the order in favour of the chief minister.

The bench, however, had closed the contempt proceedings against litigant N Peddi Raju and two lawyers, who were cautioned that such conduct undermines the integrity of the judicial system and must be "strongly deprecated".

It had closed the matter since a Telangana High Court judge accepted the apologies tendered by the errant litigant and his two lawyers. PTI SJK PKS SJK KVK KVK