The Andhra Pradesh high court has expressed concern over the manner in which a Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant was issued and acted upon against former YSR Congress party MLA Kakani Govardhan Reddy from Sarvepalli and granted a stay on all punitive actions against him till July 3.
Justice Y Lakshmana Rao observed that the Sixth Additional Civil Judge, Junior Division, Guntur had “mechanically ordered for issuance of PT warrant” without considering the intent of Section 267 CrPC or applying his mind to the facts and circumstances of the case.
The high court also pointed out that the PT warrant was not issued in the proper format and that the magistrate had not examined compliance with Section 41A of the CrPC, which requires that notice be issued instead of arrest when offences are punishable with imprisonment of less than seven years.
Further, the high court found that the remand order dated June 10, 2025, was also passed without assessing whether the FIR disclosed a prima facie case.
Justice Lakshman Rao said it appears that the magistrate without applying his mind mechanically passed the remand order pursuant to execution of PT warrant without going into the fundamental and important fact whether a prima facie case was made out.
The FIR was registered at the CID Police Station, Mangalagiri, and involved offences under Sections 153A, 505(2), and 120-B IPC. However, the high court noted that the facts of the case did not prima facie attract these provisions and cited relevant Supreme Court judgments.
In light of these observations, the court stayed all further proceedings in the case till July 3, 2025.
The FIR against Kakani Govardhan Reddy alleges that he had defamed TDP leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy by circulating a morphed image and making provocative social media posts, allegedly intended to incite unrest and malign Somireddy's reputation post the 2024 elections.
