HYDERABAD: A Nampally court has acquitted a former corporator in a case registered under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act after finding that the police failed to collect CCTV footage or examine independent witnesses.
The court found Ale Jithendar not guilty in the case registered by the Golconda police.
According to the prosecution, Jithendar was stopped by police from entering Golconda Fort during bandobast duty for the September 17, 2014 event.
The then Golconda sub-inspector, B Kantha Reddy, alleged that Jithendar waved the national flag, which fell to the ground, and then, along with his associates, sat on it and dragged it on the road. Police subsequently registered a case under Section 2 of the Act, read with Section 34 of the IPC.
The investigation was conducted by P Gopal Rao and V Sundariah, who later filed the chargesheet.
The court noted that while the FIR stated the flag fell during a scuffle in the presence of around 20 people, it did not allege that the accused had intentionally thrown it down or sat on it. During cross-examination, the investigating officer admitted he had neither examined independent witnesses nor collected CCTV footage. The court held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges and acquitted the accused.
