Gopala Krishna Kalanidhi v. State of Andhra Pradesh
In the High Court of Andhra Pradesh
Cr.P. 950, 953-954/2022
Before Justice Cheekati Manavendranath Roy
Decided on February 25, 2022

Relevancy of the case: Bail application in a case involving the posting of scandalising comments against the sitting High Court judges

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 153A, 504, 505(2), 506)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 439)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• Several persons made allegations against the High Court and Supreme Court Judges and their judgements. These allegations were in the form of posts and comments on social media platforms.
• They brought down the image of the judiciary in the eyes of the members of society.

Arguments by the Advocates:

• The petitioners’ counsel for A-18 and A-19 submitted that the petitioners had tendered an apology. The High Court had closed the contempt proceedings against them.
• The petitioner’s counsel for A-20 argued that the petitioner’s apology was pending consideration before the High Court.
• The Special Public Prosecutor for CBI vehemently opposed the bail applications.

Opinion of the Bench

• The court accepted the apologies of A-18 and A-19. They noted the closure of contempt proceedings by the High Court.
• As for A-20, the court did not accept the apology as the contempt proceedings are pending.

Final Decision

• The bench granted bail to A-18 and A-19 while rejecting the A-20’s 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.