The Telangana High Court on Wednesday quashed a case registered against Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy in 2020 for flying a drone without permission to record visuals of a farmhouse at Janwada near Hyderabad.
The case was registered against Revanth Reddy in March 2020 when he was the MP from Malkajgiri. He was arrested for flying the drone over the farmhouse reportedly belonging to BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao, who was then a state minister.
Revanth Reddy had hired a drone for a photo shoot in support of his allegation that K.T. Rama Rao built the farmhouse in violation of government norms.
Narsingi police of Cyberabad on March 4, 2020, registered a case against Revanth Reddy under Sections 184 (obstructing sale of property offered for sale by authority of public servant), 187 (omission to assist public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was also booked under Sections 287, for using a drone in an unauthorised manner and Section 120, for criminal conspiracy under the IPC.
Revanth Reddy had spent 20 days in jail before a court granted him bail.
The Chief Minister had filed a petition in the High Court, seeking to quash the criminal cases registered against him. His counsel S. Niranjan Reddy argued that Janwada is not a prohibited area. He contended that the charges leveled did not constitute ingredients of the sections of the law invoked in the case.
Last week, the High Court directed the Public Prosecutor for Home to file a counter affidavit in the petition.
Meanwhile, the High Court has also quashed a case registered against BRS leader Rama Rao for making alleged derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Saifabad police of Hyderabad had registered a case in August last year on a complaint by Rajya Sabha MP Anil Kumar Yadav that the BRS leader used derogatory language against the Chief Minister.
KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, had approached the High Court, seeking to quash the case.
During the arguments, the Public Prosecutor submitted to the court that KTR, who is holding a responsible position, used derogatory language against the Chief Minister.
However, KTR’s counsel T. V. Ramanarao argued that the allegations were false and politically motivated. He urged the court to quash the FIR.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court quashed the FIR.