5 held for posting derogatory content against judges: CBI

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Saturday it has arrested five people in the last one month for allegedly posting derogatory content on social media against judges and the judiciary, a remark that came two days after a bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana lamented that CBI and other agencies “are not helping the judiciary at all”.

To be sure, the arrests have been made in an unrelated case, in which probe was launched by CBI in November last year on the orders of the Andhra Pradesh high court.

Of the five people, two were arrested on Saturday for allegedly posting defamatory content against Andhra Pradesh high court and Supreme Court judges, an officer said on condition of anonymity.

The central agency took over 12 First Information Reports (FIRS), registered by the state Crime Investigation Division between April and July 2020 on the complaint of Registrar General of Andhra Pradesh high court, and clubbed all these into a single case.

In its FIR registered on November 11, the agency named 16 people as accused and charged them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including section 506 (criminal intimidation), and Section 67 of the IT Act.

“It was alleged that the accused, by intentionally targeting the judiciary, made derogatory posts on social media platforms against judges and judiciary, following some court verdicts delivered by the judges of the high court of Andhra Pradesh,” said CBI spokesperson RC Joshi.

The five people arrested have been identified as Pattapu Aadarsh and Lavanuru Samba Siva Reddy from Andhra Pradesh (arrested on Saturday); Dhami Reddy Konda Reddy and Pamula Sudheer (arrested on July 28) and Lingareddy Rajasekhar Reddy (arrested on July 9 on his arrival from Kuwait).

“We were monitoring Lingareddy’s movements. The moment he landed in India, the officers took him into their custody,” the officer cited above said.

According to the officer, the agency has also examined a Lok Sabha member N Suresh, and former MLA Amanchi Krishnamohan — both belonging to the YSR Congress Party — in connection with the

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THE CJI RECENTLY PASSED STERN REMARKS ON THE WORKING OF THE CBI AND OTHER AGENCIES WITH REGARDS TO COMPLAINTS RAISED BY JUDGES