Telangana High Court Tells DGP to Identify Police Officials Who Misbehaved with Women MLAs
The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the Director General of Police to examine the September 7 incident in which Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislators were stopped from entering the State Assembly, and to identify the police officials who misbehaved with or manhandled the women legislators.
Justice T. Madhavi Devi, modifying an earlier order passed on September 7 on a petition filed by the BRS Legislature Party (BRSLP), also directed the DGP to submit a report on the incident to the Speaker for necessary action. Where the incident took place outside the precincts of the Assembly — that is, at its entry point — the DGP has been asked to place a report before the court as well.
The BRSLP approached the High Court on September 7 after its members were prevented by police from entering the Assembly through the main entry point on the first day of the Assembly's eighth session. That evening, Justice Madhavi Devi directed the authorities not to stop legislators from entering the Assembly from the following day.
In its latest order, the court clarified that it is for the Speaker, and not the police, to act if any Rules of the Assembly were violated. The judge also directed the DGP to identify the erring police officials, take strict action against them and report back to the bench. The directions require the DGP to identify those responsible; they do not by themselves amount to a finding of guilt against any official.
The Hyderabad Police Commissioner filed an interim application along with a counter affidavit seeking vacation of the order. Presenting the State's contentions, Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy submitted that while police had requested BRS legislators not to enter the Assembly wearing black T-shirts carrying slogans, BRS MLA T. Harish Rao threatened police personnel. He also said BRS MLA K.T. Rama Rao made objectionable and insensitive remarks targeting women police personnel.
When women legislators were allowed to step inside the Assembly, MLAs D. Sudheer Reddy, Gangula Kamalakar, Padi Kaushik Reddy, T. Harish Rao and others attempted to force their way in while hiding behind them, the Advocate General said. He stated that many legislators removed their T-shirts in front of women police personnel, which he described as objectionable. These acts at the entry gate of the Assembly fell within the meaning of the 'precincts of the House', he argued.
Referring to the Police Commissioner's contention that BRS legislators violated prohibitory orders, the judge observed that the First Information Report issued over the incident did not mention any such violation. The prohibitory orders were directed against public meetings or processions near or around a four-kilometre radius of the Assembly, the court noted, adding that there was no bar on MLAs entering the Assembly or the Council.
The authorities did not explain why the women legislators were taken to BRS Bhavan when they had not violated any directive of the Speaker, the order said. It also recorded that there was no allegation or evidence that the women legislators had misbehaved with the police.
The BRS is the principal Opposition party in the Telangana Assembly. The case concerns the conduct of police personnel and legislators at the gates of a legislature, an issue courts have repeatedly said must be weighed against the right of elected representatives to attend the House and the duty of the Speaker to regulate proceedings within it.
