Hyderabad: In a relief to Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, the Telangana High Court, on Thursday, quashed the case registered against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The High Court, which had reserved its orders on the Chief Minister’s petition on June 20, pronounced the same on Thursday.
The case was registered in 2019 against Revanth Reddy, his brother Kondal Reddy and another person for allegedly abusing N. Peddi Raju, Director, Razole Constituency SC Mutually Aided Cooperative Housing Society Limited, by his caste.
Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya quashed the First Information Report (FIR) on the ground that the prosecution failed to produce any evidence that could link the accused to the incident. The judge observed that the case was registered based on allegations, and the same could not be grounds for conviction without proving the presence of the accused at the site of the alleged offence.
The FIR relates to a land dispute over 31 acres in Survey No. 127 of Gopanpally village. The complainant alleged that Revanth Reddy’s brothers, A. Kondal Reddy and E. Lakshmaiah, encroached on the land with Revanth Reddy’s encouragement when he was an MP.
The complainant had also alleged he was insulted on caste grounds and that structures on the disputed site were demolished using a JCB machine.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered in 2016 at the Gachibowli Police Station of the Cyberabad Commissionerate. Revanth Reddy was named as accused number three in the case.
The FIR was registered under sections 447, 427, 506 r/w 34 r/w 198, 120-b of the IPC and Sections (3) (1) (f) (g) (r) & (s) (va) of the SS/ST (POA) Act, 2016.
The case was pending trial before the Special Sessions Judge for Trial of Cases under SCs/STs POA Act cum VII Additional District Sessions Judge, Rangareddy district.
Revanth Reddy had approached the High Court in 2020, seeking to quash the FIR and related proceedings on the grounds that the case was politically motivated and lacked merit.
During the arguments on the petition, Palle Nageshwar Rao, public prosecutor, appearing for the state government, informed the court that the investigating officer had examined eight witnesses and recorded their statements. He told the court that none of the witnesses stated that Revanth Reddy was present at the scene.
(IANS)
