Supreme court junks plea to quash HC order in case on CM Revanth

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the Telangana high court's decision to quash a 2016 criminal case against chief minister A Revanth Reddy.A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi observed that the HC correctly determined that no prima facie case existed to proceed against the former parliamentarian. The bench remarked that the litigation appeared to be an attempt to use the judiciary for a "political battle" and to gain "political mileage."
The underlying case dated back to 2016, when Revanth, serving as MP of Malkajgiri, allegedly instigated several individuals to trespass into a SC Mutually Aided Cooperative Housing Society in Gachibowli. The complainant, N Peddi Raju, claimed the group vandalised society property using JCB trucks and hurled casteist slurs at him when he attempted to intervene. Charges were filed under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.During the hearing, the Supreme Court scrutinised the evidence, with Justice Bagchi pointing out that the links between Reanth and the alleged crime were based on hearsay and inferential logic rather than direct proof. The court also noted the petitioner's history of prior enmity with the CM. While the petitioner's counsel argued that actual physical presence at the scene was unnecessary for a charge of abetment, the bench maintained that theHC already conducted a thorough review of the investigative materials.Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Revanth, described the petitioner as an "adventurous litigant" with a track record of filing vexatious cases. Taking this submission on record, the Supreme Court said they could "read between the lines" of such political disputes. In its final order, the bench concluded that the HC's view was plausible under the circumstances and said no interference was warranted as the evidence collected during the investigation failed to support the allegations.