Hyderabad: Justice K. Lakshman of the Telangana High Court on Friday allowed the petition filed by TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy seeking to quash the cognisance taken by the trial court in a criminal defamation case filed by ‘My Home’ Rameswar Rao In 2014, Rao filed the Rs 90 crore defamation suit alleging that in respect of certain media statements of Revanth Reddy relating to DLF lands was defamatory as he (Rao) was referred to as donga (thief).
The magistrate court at Nampally commenced the trial and took into cognizance of Reddy’s comments.
S.S. Prasad, senior counsel appearing for Revanth Reddy, contended that the order was contrary to the Supreme Court rulings that no reasons are given that the allegations do not constitute any defamation and that as a public representative he had expressed his views on a public issue about the manner in which '700 crore worth DLF lands changed several hands and landed in the hands of the companies of Rameswara Rao without paying any consideration.
The court, without going into the merits of the case, set aside the trial court orders on the grounds of procedural lapses. Further, the High Court remanded the case back to trial court for reconsideration afresh.
