HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has granted temporary relief to MLC Chintapandu Naveen Kumar, alias Teenmar Mallanna, by exempting him from personal appearance before various lower courts for eight weeks in connection with about 120 criminal cases pending against him.
Justice N Tukaramji passed the interim order while hearing a writ petition seeking directions to the state government to withdraw the cases and transfer them to a designated special court for trial of cases involving public representatives.
The judge also directed the High Court Registry to tag the petition with suo motu writ petition No 11 of 2023 pending before the Chief Justice’s bench. The suo motu case concerns the speedy disposal of criminal cases against public representatives, in line with Supreme Court directions in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union of India.
Senior counsel Suresh Ram, appearing for the petitioner, argued that Mallanna was facing cases in multiple courts across the state and attending all hearings was practically impossible. He sought exemption from personal appearance.
He also submitted that a special court at Nampally, constituted through GO Ms No 6 to try cases against MPs and MLAs, excludes MLCs, and sought similar consideration for the petitioner.
Opposing the plea, Government Pleader for Home Mahesh Raje said the special courts were constituted strictly as per Supreme Court directions, which apply only to MPs and MLAs.
The matter will now be heard along with the pending suo motu proceedings before the Chief Justice’s bench.