The Telangana High Court recently refused to direct the police to register a case against Chief Minister (CM) Revanth Reddy for allegedly posting a fake notice related to the closure of hostels and messes at Osmania University in 2023 [Chatari Dashrath v. The State of Telangana].
Justice B Vijaysen Reddy remarked, “It is preposterous to assume that the Chief Minister of the State (respondent No. 6) would personally handle Twitter for posting trivial and casual tweets.”
The Court noted that the alleged notice posted by Reddy originated from the Chief Warden of Hostels and Messes, who forwarded it to the Station House Officer of Osmania University City Police Station.
The order was passed in response to a petition filed by six students, who claimed that the police had failed to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Reddy based on their complaint.
In April, boarders of Osmania University protested against the shortage of water and electricity in the hostels. Following this, the Chief Warden declared the closure of the hostels and messes from May 1-31 in line with the University’s decision regarding summer vacation. The circular issued by the Chief Warden, mentioning the shortage of water and electricity, sparked a political debate.
The Court was informed that CM Reddy had directed the Registrar of Osmania University to issue a show-cause notice to the Chief Warden for disseminating misleading information, causing unnecessary confusion among the University community.
Later, CM Reddy shared a similar notice from 2023 about the water and electricity shortage at the University hostels and messes. At that time, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was in power.
BRS social media convenor Krishank Manne replied to the CM’s post, stating that the notice was not genuine and posted the “original notice” from May 2023. Following Manne’s tweet, the Chief Warden filed a complaint with the police, alleging that the BRS leader had shared a fake circular on Twitter. Manne was subsequently arrested and is currently on bail. It has been alleged that he uploaded the 2023 notice while omitting references to the acute water and electricity shortage.
The State argued that the petitioners, aware of the case registered against Manne and others, lodged a baseless complaint against the CM as a countermeasure.
The Court was further informed that the notice uploaded by CM Reddy did not originate from his office but was forwarded by the Chief Warden to the police.
Considering the submissions, the Court stated that since a case had already been registered by the police, it was the responsibility of the investigating officer to determine whether the documents were genuine or fake.
“In light of the above discussion, the writ petition is misconceived and is accordingly dismissed. However, petitioners are always at liberty to invoke appropriate legal remedies available under law,” the Court concluded.
Advocate M Roopender represented the petitioners.
Additional Advocate General T Rajinikanth Reddy represented the State.
