The Telangana High Court struck down three criminal cases against an X user for tweets critical of CM Revanth Reddy’s Congress government, ruling them protected free speech. The Court also laid down strict guidelines for police and magistrates on handling FIRs in social media cases.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has ruled that a preliminary inquiry is not mandatory before filing a First Information Report (FIR) against a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The court clarified that an accused person cannot demand a preliminary inquiry before an FIR is registered in corruption-related cases.
The Supreme Court has directed the Telangana government to respond to Senior Advocate Vedula Venkataraman’s petition challenging accusations of taking Rs 7 crores to bribe judges. Venkataraman argues the FIR has no prima facie evidence and is based on vague allegations. He previously sought to quash the case, which was dismissed by the Telangana High Court.