Telangana HC dismisses plea to register case against CM Revanth Reddy over fake university notice [Read Order]

Telangana: The Telangana High Court recently declined to instruct the police to file a case against Chief Minister (CM) Revanth Reddy for allegedly posting a fake notice concerning 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 observed that the purported notice posted by Reddy originated from the Chief Warden of Hostels and Messes, who had sent it to the Station House Officer of Osmania University City Police Station.

The ruling came in response to a petition by six students who claimed that the police had failed to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Reddy based on their complaint. The students stated that Osmania University boarders had protested in April against water and electricity shortages in the hostels. Subsequently, the Chief Warden announced the closure of the hostels and messes from May 1-31, in line with the University's summer vacation policy. The circular issued by the Chief Warden, mentioning the shortages, sparked a political debate. The Court was informed that CM Reddy had instructed the Registrar of Osmania University to issue a show cause notice to the Chief Warden "for disseminating misleading information thereby causing unnecessary confusion among the University community."

Later, CM Reddy shared a similar notice from 2023 about water and electricity shortages at the University hostels and messes. At that time, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was in power.

It was reported that BRS social media convenor Krishank Manne responded to the CM, stating that the notice uploaded by him was not genuine and posted the "original notice" of 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 arrested and is currently on bail. He was accused of omitting "the acute water and electricity shortage" from the 2023 notice.

The State argued before the High Court that the petitioners, aware of the case against Manne and others, lodged an unfounded complaint against the CM as a counteraction. The Court was also 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 up to the investigating officer to determine the authenticity of the documents. "In the light of above discussion, the writ petition is misconceived and accordingly it is dismissed. However, petitioners are always at liberty to invoke appropriate legal remedies available under law," the Court said.

Advocate M Roopender represented the petitioners, while Additional Advocate General T Rajinikanth Reddy represented the State.

[Read Order]