HYDERABAD: Justice N Tukaramji of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday quashed three criminal cases registered against BRS social media activist Durgam Shashidhar Goud alias Nalla Balu over his social media posts. The cases were filed at CCPS Ramagundam, Cyber Security Bureau, CCPS Karimnagar, and PS GDK-1 Town, Ramagundam.
The court pulled up the state government for indiscriminately filing cases against citizens over online criticism, calling the practice “illegal and impermissible." It stressed that police must act as per law and the Constitution, and uphold fundamental rights, instead of attempting to curb dissent through undemocratic means.
The high court held that tweets, Facebook posts or criticism of the government or chief minister cannot form grounds for criminal cases unless they incite violence or cause direct personal harm to an individual.
The court said that FIRs can be filed only if the complainant is personally aggrieved. Third-party defamation complaints are invalid. A preliminary inquiry is mandatory before registering an FIR, it added and noted that political criticism or harsh comments do not amount to a criminal offence.
As defamation is a non-cognisable offence, complainants must approach a magistrate, not the police. Arrests must follow the Supreme Court’s Arnesh Kumar guidelines, the judge observed and added that politically motivated complaints should be rejected outright.