Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has initiated a suo motu criminal contempt case against BJP’s Medak MP M Raghunandan Rao, following his comments about the judiciary concerning the protection of lakes and actions taken by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRA).
This decision came after the court received a letter from Justice T Vinod Kumar, who highlighted remarks made by Rao during a press conference on August 24, coinciding with the demolition of Tollywood actor Akkineni Nagarjuna’s N-Convention function hall by HYDRA.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao, has issued a notice to Rao, requiring him to clarify his statements regarding the judiciary.
In his letter to the Chief Justice, the judge noted that after hearing the house motion filed by the actor against HYDRA and the demolition of N-Convention, he had ordered a status quo and requested responses from the authorities.
However, the MP misinterpreted this status quo as a stay order, Justice Vinod said.
The judge mentioned that the MP has been holding multiple media conferences where he has expressed critical views about the courts.
In one such conference, he suggested that judges should “remove the blindfold around their eyes” to recognize the realities surrounding them.
The judge further stated that the MP harbours a profound disdain for the judiciary and seeks to promote his sentiments by making statements that could scandalize the courts in public perception.
