Telangana High Court does not take coercive action against Congress workers in Amit Shah fake video case

The Telangana High Court recently ruled that no coercive action should be taken against Congress workers in a case involving a fake video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy ordered both the state and Delhi police not to take coercive action against the Congress workers. The court directed the State and Delhi Police not to take coercive action on notices under Sections 911160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, bearing No. 177 R/ACP/IFSO (Team a)/Spl Cell New Delhi, Notice no.’ |78 R/I,CP/IFSO (Team 4)/Spl Cell New Delhi, Notification No. 179 R/ACP/IFSO (Team )/Spl Cell New Delhi, Notification No. 180 R/ACP/IFSO (Team a) /Spl Cell New Delhi dated 211.04.2024 until further notice.

The court further clarified that the current order will not come in the way of the state in investigating the matter, the Court added. It also directed the Hyderabad Police Commissioner, Principal Secretary (Home) and others to submit their responses to Congress workers’ plea.

The petition was filed by Congress workers Manne Sathish, Asma Tasleem, Ambala Shiva Kumar, Pettam Naveen, Koya Geetha and Pendyala Vamshi Krishna against a case registered against them by the Delhi Police on the basis of a complaint filed by one Shinku Sharan Singh. The petitioners are accused of sharing a doctored video clip of Home Minister Amit Shah on social media.

The complaint stated that the manipulation and circulation of a video featuring Amit Shah purporting to suggest that reservations for Scheduled Castes/Schedule Tribes (SC/STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) would be abolished if the BJP remained in power in the centre.

Earlier on May 3, the Hyderabad police arrested several Telangana Congress Party members in connection with the case. The suspects were reportedly produced before a local court which granted them bail on the condition that each individual must furnish two sureties worth Rs 10,000 each and appear before the investigating officer every Monday and Friday until further notice.