Officer told to file cases against politicians

In a significant development, Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of Cherukupalli police station in Guntur district to register a case against the ruling party MLA, MLC, and former MLAs of Guntur district for organising cockfights during Sankranti.

A Division Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice K. Vijaya Lakshmi, while dealing with a petition by one T. Bhanu Prakash, a practicing advocate of Guntur district, directed the SHO to register the case against the political leaders based on a complaint lodged by the petitioner.

The petitioner told the court that he had complained on January 14, 2018,

The counsel appearing for the home department of AP told the court that the so called complaint of the petitioner has not reached the police station.

against Repalle MLA A. Satya Prasad, MLC A. Satish and former MLAs D. Mallikarjuna Rao and M. Venkata Subbaiah for organising cockfights and gambling in Thurupupalem village in violation of the High Court order.

The counsel, appearing for the respondent politicians, told the court that the petitioner is belonging to the YSR Congress and he lodged the complaint against the respondents who are belonging to the TD with a political motive.

The counsel appearing for the home department of Andhra Pradesh told the court that the so called complaint of the petitioner has not reached the police station.

While disposing of the petition, the Bench said it is not going into merits and veracity of the allegations. The police shall receive the complaint, register a case and after investigation, file the final report in a competent local criminal court.