Don’t execute PT warrants against Teenmaar Mallanna: HC

Police were getting PT warrants one after another to ensure Teenmaar Mallana continued to stay behind bars, counsel for petitioner told Telangana High Court

Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy of Telangana High Court on Monday directed Telangana police not to execute any prisoner transit warrant against Q-News web channel owner Chintapandu Naveen Kumar alias Teenmaar Mallanna who was already lodged in prison in a case.

The judge passed the direction after hearing a writ petition filed by Mallanna’s wife K. Mathamma who sought a direction to the police to follow the guidelines laid down by Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar’s case vis-a-vis investigation into the cases registered against her husband. Justice Vijaysen Reddy also directed the government pleaders for Home Roopender and Ravinder to present details of the PT warrants pending against Teenmaar Mallanna in a week.

The petitioner contended that criminal cases were registered against her husband under the jurisdiction of different police stations in the State. The sections of law invoked in these first information reports (FIRs) had punishment of less than seven years of imprisonment. In all the cases, the charge against Mr. Mallanna was that he made derogatory comments and baseless allegations against Bharat Rashtra Samithi supremo and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his daughter Kavitha’s alleged complicity in Delhi liquor scam.

The petitioner maintained that Telangana police were not following the SC guidelines laid down in Arnesh Kumar case (like issuing summons under Section 41-A of Criminal Procedure Code) while investigating cases registered against Mr. Mallanna. Petitioner’s counsel S. Sharath Kumar, presenting his contentions before the judge, said that police were approaching the local courts concerned and seeking PT warrants against Mallanna seeking his arrest in the case registered in their respective police station.

With the local court concerned granting PT warrants, the police were serving the same to the authorities of the prison where Mr. Mallanna was lodged, bringing him to the court and securing his judicial remand. Mr. Sharath Kumar argued that this was against law and principles of natural justice. By securing PT warrants one after the other, the police were trying to ensure Mallanna was always put behind the bars, the lawyer argued. The matter was adjourned to April 10 for next hearing.

In a separate matter, a bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tuakaramji issued notices to State government over the fire accident in Swapnalok complex that left six persons dead.

The bench directed the government to respond to the notices by June 26 by explaining in detail the reasons for the major fire accident. The HC taken up the reports published by an English daily over the fire accident suo motu as Public Interest Litigation. The bench noted that the same commercial complex witnessed fire accident in 2011.