A Hyderabad court has struck down the Telangana police’s attempt to prosecute two journalists under Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a charge reserved for serious organised crimes, Hindustan Times reported.
Revathi Pogadadanda, managing director of YouTube news channel Pulse Digital News Network, and Thanvi Yadav, an employee, were arrested earlier this month for allegedly circulating defamatory content against Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Revathi had posted a video on her channel showing an elderly farmer making allegedly derogatory remarks against Reddy. A case was lodged based on a complaint from a Congress worker.
On Saturday, Reddy had lashed out at social media criticism in the assembly and hinted at a new law to regulate journalism.
Meanwhile, defending the journalists in court, their lawyer Jakkula Laxman argued that section 111 was grossly disproportionate. “All the other sections invoked carry a maximum punishment of less than seven years. Hence, immediate arrest was not warranted,” Laxman said, alleging that the women were arrested in haste due to political pressure, according to Hindustan Times.
The additional public prosecutor defended the police, arguing that the accused should have shown restraint. “The conduct of the accused was highly provocative and might have led to a disturbance of law and order in the state,” the report quoted the APP as saying.
As per the order on March 12, additional chief judicial magistrate G Anusha, while remanding the two journalists to judicial custody, ruled that invoking section 111 against them was unjustified.
“The essential ingredients of Section 111 of BNS do not attract at this stage as there is no involvement of monetary transactions or other factors mentioned under Section 111,” the court reportedly observed.
However, the court maintained other charges under the Information Technology Act and BNS provisions related to creating and circulating false information, stating that the FIR prima facie contained well-founded accusations.
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