Three leaders from the BRS party, including working president K.T. Rama Rao, received relief from the Telangana High Court on Monday, which stayed all proceedings in a case brought against them by the Mahadevpur police for allegedly capturing aerial footage of the Medigadda barrage using a drone.
Justice K. Lakshman issued a notice to Vali Shaik, an assistant executive engineer in the Irrigation department, whose complaint initiated the case. Following the petition filed by the BRS leaders, the judge suspended all proceedings, including any potential arrests.
Rama Rao, along with former MLAs Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy and Balka Suman, sought the High Court’s intervention to dismiss the FIR filed by Mahadevpur police. Sections 223 (b) along with Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) were cited in the complaint.
The petitioners argued that their visit to the Medigadda barrage aimed to demonstrate that the ruling Congress government was failing to lift water from the Kaleshwaram project, adversely affecting local farmers. To support their claims, they recorded drone footage of the dam.
Their legal counsel contended that the engineer’s complaint did not meet the criteria required for invoking Section 223 (b) of the BNS, which should apply only in cases of violation of orders issued by a public official. The court has adjourned the matter and scheduled the next hearing for September 5.
