PNS|Hyderabad
The Special Court for Public Representatives dismissed the criminal case filed in 2017 against the Minister for IT and Industries, Duddilla Sridhar Babu, and some others in connection with a protest over the Kaleshwaram Project in Peddapalli district.
The case filed by the Basanthnagar Police during BRS rule, was widely criticised as politically driven. After the verdict delivered on Saturday, Sridhar addressed the media outside the court and described the judgement as a moral victory for farmers.
“This is not just our personal victory, it is a victory of the people, especially farmers,” he said. “The judiciary has recognised the injustice done to marginalised families. Our faith in the legal system stands reaffirmed,” Sridhar said.
Recalling the events of 2017, he said the case stemmed from their attempt to voice farmers’ grievances during a public hearing concerning land acquisition in undivided Karimnagar district.
“We exercised our democratic right to seek justice, but the BRS government misused its power to suppress our voice,” he said. “They directed the police to file false charges, including non-bailable sections, against me and other Congress workers. Some of them weren’t even present at the spot on that day,” Sridhar said.
He accused the BRS government of committing large scale violations in the name of the Kaleshwaram Project.
“Thousands of acres were snatched from farmers without compensation. The people who fed the state were robbed, and the project itself has now collapsed. The truth behind it will soon emerge,” he said.
Sridhar said that BRS leaders took pleasure in targeting the opposition. “Some of them deliberately added random names in the FIR. This was not just political vendetta, it was sadism,” he said.
He also pointed to what he called a “pattern of injustice” under the BRS admin, citing the example of the lawyer couple who were murdered in broad daylight. “Even in that case, the real culprits were shielded. Justice was never their priority,” he said.
Comparing past and present administrations, Sridhar said, “Under BRS rule, democracy had collapsed. Dissent was met with false cases. Today, under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, we are restoring democratic values. We are committed to justice.”
