Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has asked the State government and a police constable, M A Wasim Akram, to respond to two legal petitions. These petitions were filed by Nalla Balu, who is accused of posting offensive comments about Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Justice N Tukaramji issued the notices and asked for their replies by June 25.
Nalla Balu, also known as Durgam Shashidar Goud from Patancheru in Sangareddy district, posted a message criticizing the Chief Minister. His post said, “No Vision, No Mission… only 20% commission! This is how the 15-month rule of Revanth Reddy government is in State & Congress is the scourge of the State!… if the field is affected by the pest, people will be disturbed.”
According to the complaint, Balu’s post was insulting and damaging to the image of the Chief Minister. The police say that he copied the message from the BRS party’s Twitter account and only changed the photo to that of Revanth Reddy before posting it.
As a result, two First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against Balu. One FIR was registered in Karimnagar and the other in Ramagundam. Both FIRs list several charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, 2008.
Balu’s lawyer argued that his client was wrongly accused and that the FIRs do not clearly show that any crime was committed. He also pointed out a Supreme Court ruling which says that in such cases, the complaint must be filed by a senior police officer and only after a proper inquiry. The lawyer asked the court to cancel both FIRs.
The High Court has postponed the case to June 25 to allow time for the government and the police to file their replies.
