Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to file counter affidavit in four weeks in a writ petition filed by T. Usha Bhai, wife of Goshamahal MLA T. Raja Singh who was arrested under the Telangana Preventive Detention Act, seeking his release.
Petitioner’s counsel made a mention about the plea before a bench of Justices Shameem Akthar and E. V. Venugopal
The suspension came after his “objectionable comments” on Prophet Mohammed through a video clip which was uploaded by him referring to a show by a comedian Munawar Farooq. Eventually, the police registered a criminal case under different sections of law, arrested him and presented him before a local magistrate in Hyderabad.
The magistrate, however, directed the police to release the MLA agreeing with the contentions of the latter’s counsel that he was not served the mandatory notice under Section 41A of Criminal Procedure Code. Within 24 hours of his release, the Hyderabad police arrested him under the Telangana Preventive Detention Act. The magistrate remanded him in judicial custody.
The legislator’s wife moved the HC seeking a direction for his release citing several grounds. The petitioner contended that the detention authority erred in invoking the PD Act against Raja Singh who is a member of the Legislative Assembly as penal laws were sufficient for the charges made against him. The petitioner stated that the authorities described the MLA as ‘goonda’ but they did not have any material to justify that.
