NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea filed by the BJP's Telangana unit challenging a high court order which quashed a defamation case against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over his speech during the 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign.
"We are time and again saying don't use this court for political battles. Dismissed. If you are a politician, then you should have a thick skin," observed, a three-judge bench of the top court, headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and Atul S Chandurkar.
On August 1, the Telangana High Court acted on Reddy's plea seeking quashing of the proceedings in the case pending in a Hyderabad trial court.
The BJP's Telangana unit, represented by its general secretary, filed a complaint in May 2024 against Reddy, alleging that he delivered a defamatory and provocative speech against the party.
But the top court, eventually rejected the plea.
Before the HC agreed with Reddy's contention and granted him the reprieve, a trial court in August last year said that a prima facie case was made against Reddy for the alleged offences of defamation under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Section 125 of The Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951.
Reddy challenged the order before the HC, contending that in the case of political speeches, the threshold to allege defamation and maintain a complaint under Section 199 of the CrPC should be much higher.
The high court subsequently noted, "Even if this court were to accept that the complainant is a part of the national unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party and may be treated as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the complaint is not maintainable for the lack of authorisation."
It said neither the complainant nor its representative was authorised by the national unit of the BJP to file the complaint. The high court agreed with Reddy's contention that in the case of political speeches, the threshold to allege defamation and maintain a complaint under Section 199 of the CrPC should be much higher.
The general secretary of the Telangana BJP unit, however, claimed in his complaint that the alleged defamatory speech by Reddy lowered the BJP's reputation as a political party.
The HC, while agreeing with the contentions of Reddy, quashed the trial court order and the proceedings arising out of the case. "Political speeches are often exaggerated. To allege that such speeches are defamatory is another exaggeration," said the HC in its order.
(With inputs from PTI)