The Telangana High Court has directed Director General of Police CV Anand to identify the police personnel allegedly involved in manhandling BRS women MLAs outside the state Assembly and submit a report detailing the action taken against them.
Justice T Madhavi Devi passed the directions while hearing a petition filed by BRS deputy floor leader Talasani Srinivas Yadav over the September 7 incident. The petition alleged that police personnel pulled a woman legislator’s saree and restrained another former minister by the neck. The court took serious exception to the allegations and observed that such treatment of women was unacceptable.
The petitioners had also alleged that the police prevented BRS legislators from entering the Assembly. The court earlier directed police not to obstruct legislators from entering the House and said that any violation of Assembly rules should be dealt with by the Speaker rather than the police.
The state had argued that some BRS legislators violated Assembly rules by wearing black T-shirts carrying slogans. The court, however, questioned the police’s authority to decide whether elected legislators could enter the House, maintaining that disciplinary action for violations of Assembly rules falls within the Speaker’s domain.
BRS women legislators, including P Sabitha Indra Reddy and V Sunitha Laxma Reddy, subsequently approached the National Commission for Women and the National Human Rights Commission over the alleged police action. They also filed a complaint at Saifabad police station regarding the incident.
