Telangana HC hears petition by former Konda Surekha OSD Sumanth

The Telangana High Court on Monday heard a petition by former OSD Sumanth seeking quashing of a case registered at Jubilee Hills police station over the alleged assault of businessman Harikrishna. The court adjourned the hearing to Tuesday.

Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: Justice J Sreenivas Rao of the Telangana High Court on Monday heard a petition filed by Sumanth, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Minister Konda Surekha, seeking to quash the case registered against him at the Jubilee Hills police station.

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According to the police complaint, Harikrishna, a businessman, was allegedly summoned by Sumanth on the night of July 30 to an office near the Jubilee Hills check post, where he was questioned over allegations of having collected money using Sumanth’s name. He was allegedly assaulted with iron rods, sustaining a fracture to his hand, and was later treated at multiple hospitals, including undergoing surgery in August.

He lodged a complaint at the Medipally police station on August 20, which was registered as a Zero FIR and transferred to the Jubilee Hills police station. During the hearing on Monday, counsel for the petitioner argued that the case was a product of a political conspiracy, and that the complainant, Harikrishna, is facing five criminal cases registered against him, alleging that he has a pattern of extorting money by invoking the names of prominent figures.

He questioned the invocation of attempt to murder in the case, contending that the complaint had been engineered against Sumanth amid the ongoing political controversy surrounding Minister Konda Surekha, and pointed out that the complainant had approached the police only 22 days after the alleged incident. He submitted that Sumanth was willing to cooperate with the investigation.

The Additional Public Prosecutor told the court that the case had been registered on the basis of the complaint received. Appearing for the complainant, counsel countered that the Jubilee Hills police had not initially registered a case against Sumanth owing to his background, and that a police inspector had since been suspended in connection with the matter. He submitted that the complainant had been assaulted on his hands and legs with iron rods.

Counsel further submitted that the victim had lodged a Zero FIR at the Medipally police station, near his residence, which was subsequently transferred to the Jubilee Hills police station. It was alleged that the accused had indiscriminately assaulted the complainant and threatened to kill him, which counsel argued squarely attracted Section 109 of the BNS. The Additional Public Prosecutor sought time to present arguments on behalf of the State. The Court adjourned the hearing to Tuesday.