Babburi Vengal Rao v. State SHO
In the High Court of Andhra Pradesh
Crl. P. 2805/2022
Before Justice Cheekati Manavendranath Roy
Decided on April 27, 2022

Relevancy of the Case: Anticipatory bail application in a case involving abusing a local MLA on YouTube

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67).
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Sections 294, 153A, 504, 505)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner abused a local MLA on a YouTube Channel. Many people shared this YouTube video on social media.
• The comments created differences among members of the MLA’s party and between the people of the two castes.

Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that the petitioner did not comment based on the caste. He did not intend to create enmity between different caste groups.
• The respondent’s counsel sought to dismiss the anticipatory bail application. They submitted that the petitioner’s comments created enmity between different caste groups.

Opinion of the Bench

• The petitioner’s comments against MLA were in his personal capacity and had nothing to do with caste, religion or religious groups.
• The MLA did not lodge the report against the petitioner. A party member lodged the complaint as a de facto complainant.

Final Decision

• The bench allowed the criminal petition.

Anjali Agrawal, an undergraduate student at the NALSAR University of Law, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2022.