Assembly rules, police hands: High Court asks why
The Telangana High Court questioned the Congress government over police stopping BRS legislators at the Assembly gate and allegations of physical restraint. The state’s modification plea is awaiting orders.
The High Court questioned the police role in stopping legislators at the Assembly gate.
The Telangana High Court has questioned the Congress government’s account of why BRS legislators were stopped outside the Assembly on September 7. The legislators were wearing black clothes, including T-shirts carrying slogans about the government’s first 1,000 days in office. Several were detained. The protest entered the courtroom; apparently the Assembly gate was not enough drama.
Justice T. Madhavi Devi directed the DGP not to prevent BRS legislators from entering the Assembly and ordered an inquiry to identify the police personnel involved. The court reportedly said that if Assembly rules were violated, the Speaker—not the police—should act, and that there was “no question of allowing” legislators to enter their own Assembly. The state has sought modification of those directions; the court reserved orders on September 8.
BRS legislators Sabitha Indra Reddy and Sunitha Laxma Reddy alleged that they were physically restrained. The government denied deliberate mistreatment, saying police were managing a crowd that crossed a cordon and wore slogan-bearing clothing. The allegations remain disputed, and the officers involved have not been publicly identified in the material reviewed. The Congress government now has an inquiry to answer before it can return to policing T-shirts.