Supreme Court Rejects Telangana’s Appeal in Nalla Balu Case
Apex court upholds free speech protection for political social media posts
Hyderabad: The Supreme Court has dismissed the Telangana government’s appeal challenging the Telangana High Court order that quashed multiple FIRs registered against social media activist Shashidhar Goud, popularly known as Nalla Balu, for his political posts on social media.
The case arose from Goud’s arrest for retweeting content from the BRS’ official handle and for posts critical of the Congress and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. In September last year, the High Court had termed the police action illegal and quashed the FIRs, holding that the impugned tweets were covered by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and did not attract offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or the Information Technology Act.
While quashing the FIRs, Justice N. Tukaramji of the Telangana High Court laid down operational guidelines, directing police to avoid mechanical registration of FIRs in speech-related cases, verify de facto complainants’ locus standi, conduct preliminary inquiries, seek legal opinion in sensitive matters, and follow safeguards on arrest. Frivolous or politically motivated complaints were directed to be closed under Section 176(1) of the BNS.
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s opinion and declined to interfere with the High Court’s guidelines. The apex court found no prima facie material which incites violence, obscenity, or a threat to public order. The court also observed that at most the content could amount to defamation, which is a non-cognisable offence.
