Andhra Pradesh high court denies relief to Ram Gopal Varma, asks him to join investigation in social media abuse case

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday declined to grant interim relief to film director Ram Gopal Varma from appearing before the investigation officer in a case registered against him over alleged abusive posts on social media. The High Court said that it cannot give orders similar to the grant of bail in a quash petition.

One Muthanapalli Ramalingaiah, mandal secretary of TDP, lodged a complaint with Maddipadu police in Prakasam district alleging that Varma made derogatory posts on TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu and his family members on social media platforms. Police booked a case against Varma and issued notices to attend before the Investigating Officer (IO) on November 19.

Varma moved the High Court seeking to quash the case on him and sought interim directions to exempt him from appearing before the IO. The counsel for Varma, T Rajagopalan, told the High Court that the case was registered based on a post made on X. He said that the petitioner was issued notices to appear before the IO and was facing the threat of arrest.

Justice BVLN Chakravarthy said that if the petitioner is facing the threat of arrest, he should file a bail petition and cannot ask for similar relief to that of bail in a quash petition. Justice Chakravarthy further asked him to join the investigation if notices are issued and appear before the IO.

Rajagopalan sought one week to appear before the IO, to which the High Court said that the petitioner should request the IO for an extension of time but not the High Court. Issuing notices to the police to file counters in the quash petition, the High Court posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.