Justice K. Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday quashed a criminal case registered against Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy by Narsingi police of Cyberabad on charge of flying drone over the farmhouse reportedly belonging to BRS working president and MLA K.T. Rama Rao.
The case (crime no. 224/2020) was booked against Mr. Reddy when he was Malkajgiri MP.
Mr. Rao was Minister for IT then.
Investigators accused the MP of flying drone over Mr. Rao’s farmhouse to capture videos and pics of the farmhouse – invading his privacy.
The police invoked Sections 188, 287, 109, 201 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code along with Section 11A, read with Section 5 of the Aircraft Act-1935. The Judge observed that the area of Miyakhangadda where the drone was flown was not a prohibited location under the Aircraft Act. Apparently, the Section 11A read with Section 5 of the Aircraft Act cannot be applied in the case, the Judge noted.
No specific allegations could be found in the statements of the witnesses recorded by the investigators.
Justice Lakshman also found fault with the investigating officer for filing a memo adding some more sections to the First Information Report, observing that was not permissible under the law.
Published – March 19, 2025 10:10 pm IST
