High Court Questions Legality of Case Against Pawan Kalyan

The High Court has questioned the filing of a criminal complaint against Pawan Kalyan, the chief of Jana Sena Party, over his remarks on volunteers during the YSRCP regime. The court observed that Pawan Kalyan was neither an MP nor an MLA at the time of making the statements and asked under what authority the Public Prosecutor filed the complaint in the Guntur court. It also criticized the government order permitting the complaint, stating that it lacked proper legal justification and appeared to have been issued without following due procedure. During the hearing, Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas presented arguments on behalf of the police, after which the court adjourned the case to the 23rd of this month for counterarguments from the petitioners’ side.

The case originates from comments made by Pawan Kalyan during his Varahi Yatra on July 9, 2023, where he alleged misuse of data collected by volunteers. Following this, the YSRCP government filed a criminal defamation case under IPC Sections 499 and 500 in February 2024. However, some volunteers later stated that their signatures were taken under pressure and that their reputation had not been harmed. Subsequently, the Public Prosecutor sought to withdraw the case, and the Guntur court allowed it on November 18, 2024. Challenging this, petitioners approached the High Court, arguing that the Guntur court lacked jurisdiction and that the matter should fall under the special court for public representatives in Vijayawada. The Advocate General contended that the complainants and petitioners were different individuals and that third parties had no standing to file a revision petition, urging the court to dismiss the case.