The Telangana High Court’s division bench, led by CJ Alok Aradhe and Justice T Vinod Kumar, instructed the media to refrain from mentioning names of judges or their family members in reports about the phone-tapping case. This order came after the court noted that some media outlets had named a judge of the HC and his mobile number in their coverage of the case. The court did not issue any orders in response to a PIL as a counter-affidavit had been filed, but it urged the media to show restraint in their reporting on the matter.
The CJ also emphasized the need for caution when reporting on phone tapping cases, citing examples of newspapers that had published sensitive information about Justice K. Sarath and others involved in the case. Notices were issued to several government officials to respond within three weeks regarding the phone-tapping issue, which was taken up by the court as a Suo Motu writ petition based on an article in an English newspaper. The hearing on this matter was adjourned to July 23.
In a separate case, BJP MLA A Maheshwar Reddy filed a writ seeking the disqualification of Danam Nagender, an MLA who joined the Congress and contested in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Reddy claimed that the Speaker’s office refused to accept his petition for disqualification of Nagender. Another BRS MLA, Padi Kaushik Reddy, also filed a writ seeking disqualification of Danam, marking the second such petition. Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy is set to hear all three writs on July 11.
