High Court stops arrest; government’s timeline stumbles
The Telangana High Court directed police not to arrest BRS social-media convenor Manne Krishank, while the government and his lawyers gave conflicting accounts of whether he had already been arrested.
The High Court barred the arrest, while accounts of whether an arrest had already occurred remained disputed.
The Telangana High Court has directed police not to arrest BRS social-media convenor Manne Krishank in a case registered at Saifabad police station, according to reports of Friday’s hearing. Justice T. Madhavi Devi directed police to issue him notice under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and said he must cooperate with the investigation. The investigation itself was not halted.
The case concerns a social-media post about an incident at Saifabad police station involving K. T. Rama Rao’s personal assistant and PRO, according to the reports. The FIR, the original post and the exact sections invoked have not been made available in the material reviewed. The reported claim that all alleged offences carry less than three years’ imprisonment came from submissions before the court, not an independently checked FIR.
The arrest chronology was less tidy. Government Pleader Mahesh Raje reportedly told the court that Krishank had already been arrested. His lawyers disputed this, saying he had not been arrested as of 4.20 pm on September 18 and was before a magistrate’s court. The court’s protection order is clear; the government’s timeline is not. The paperwork, apparently, is still catching up with the arrest story.