New Delhi: 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 the facts and circumstances of the case.
The BJP’s Telangana unit, represented by its general secretary, filed a complaint in May 2024 against Reddy, alleging that he delivered a defamatory and provocative speech against the party.
But the top court eventually rejected the plea.
Before the HC agreed with Reddy’s contention and granted him the reprieve, a trial court in August last year said that a prima facie case was made against Reddy for the alleged offences of defamation under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Section 125 of The Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951.
Reddy challenged the order before the HC, contending that in the case of political speeches, the threshold to allege defamation and maintain a complaint under Section 199 of the CrPC should be much higher.
The high court subsequently noted, “Even if this court were to accept that the complainant is a part of the national unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party and may be treated as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the complaint is not maintainable for the lack of authorisation.”
It said neither the complainant nor its representative was authorised by the national unit of the BJP to file the complaint. The high court agreed with Reddy’s contention that in the case of political speeches, the threshold to allege defamation and maintain a complaint under Section 199 of the CrPC should be much higher.
The general secretary of the Telangana BJP unit, however, claimed in his complaint that the alleged defamatory speech by Reddy lowered the BJP’s reputation as a political party.
The HC, while agreeing with the contentions of Reddy, quashed the trial court order and the proceedings arising out of the case. “Political speeches are often exaggerated. To allege that such speeches are defamatory is another exaggeration,” said the HC in its order.
