VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the APCID to return the passport of NRI B Yasaswi. On his arrival from the US, the CID picked Yasaswi, who hails from Tenali, at Shamshabad airport in Telangana, alleging that he was posting defamatory content against the State government as well as Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on social media. His passport was seized.
Yasaswi approached the High Court to get his passport back. Arguing on behalf of Yasaswi, senior counsels Posani Venkateswarlu and PVG Umesh Chandra said cases cannot be registered against criticism made out of public concern. They argued that the Sections invoked by the CID cannot be applicable to Yasaswi and the passport was seized in violation of CrPC.
They informed the court that Yasaswi was scheduled to appear before the US Consulate for visa renewal on December 26 and he had to wait for three weeks to get a slot, if he failed to do so on Tuesday, and sought immediate handing over of the passport to him.
CID Special Public Prosecutor Sivakalpana Reddy said the petitioner was frequently posting content on social media to defame the government. The council said Yasaswi was served notice under 41A of CrPC and let off. The petitioner, however, violated the 41A notice and addressed the media, the CID counsel said. The court said the CID failed to follow due procedure while confiscating the passport of Yasaswi , and asked it to return the passport to the NRI immediately.