In a setback for Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, a Hyderabad court on Monday dropped a key charge of ‘organised crime’ against two journalists who were arrested for posting and amplifying allegedly abusive content against the Chief Minister.
According to the court, the charge cannot be imposed on the two journalists as there were “no monetary transactions made”.
Two journalists – Pogadadanda Revathi, the Managing Director of Pulse News, and Thanvi Yadav, a reporter for the same channel – were arrested by the Hyderabad Police’s Cyber Crime division last week. A third individual – the user of an X account titled ‘NippuKodi’ – had also been detained.
All three were taken into custody after a complaint from the chief of the Congress’ state social media unit. They are facing charges such as spreading rumours to incite hatred and provoking a breach of peace.
They had posted a video on their X account in which a man allegedly made “derogatory” and “abusive” remarks about the Chief Minister. According to the complainant, the post was “highly provocative”, and one that had the potential to incite violence and was a “deliberate attempt by Pulse TV to defame and spread propaganda”.
Days after the incident, Mr Reddy warned that strict action would be taken against those engaging in “defamatory propaganda under the guise of journalism.”
“We will respond to such criminals as required. If they hide behind a facade, that veil will be removed, and they will be exposed. Don’t create a spectacle. I am also a human being…We will act strictly according to the law and will not exceed any limits,” he said.
The arrest of the two journalists provoked massive criticism from the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), with KT Rama Rao accusing the state Congress government of being “intolerant of criticism”.
“It feels like a state of Emergency has returned in Telangana,” he said.
In a long post on X, he claimed that one of the journalists, Ms Revathi, had been arrested illegally, which included police raiding her home at 5 am and showed the Congress’ “Emergency-style rule”. He also called Ms Yadav’s arrest “atrocious” and criticised the lack of press freedom in Telangana.
