2 Women Journalists Arrested For Post Against Revanth Reddy Get Bail

Two women who were arrested earlier this month for posting and amplifying "abusive" content against Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy have secured bail today. A local court, while granting bail to Pogadadanda Revathi and Thanvi Yadav, ordered the two accused to appear before the police twice every week. The Nampally Criminal Court has also asked them to furnish sureties of Rs 25,000 each.
The women are expected to be released this evening or tomorrow morning.

Ms Revathi - the Managing Director of online news channel Pulse News - and Ms Yadav - a reporter with the channel were arrested last week by police officers in plain clothes over a widely-circulated video on X. The complaint was filed by the State Secretary of the Congress Social Media Cell in Hyderabad.

The remand report on Wednesday had dropped the 'organised crime' charge against the two.

The court said the case was not of an "organised crime" and there were no "monetary transactions made" so the charge doesn't apply.

However, the court maintained other charges under the Information Technology Act and BNS provisions related to creating and circulating false information, stating that the FIR prima facie contained well-founded accusations.

The Video In The Eye Of The Storm

The row erupted after a video where Ms Yadav was seen interviewing a man who was heard using derogatory remarks against the Congress government and the Chief Minister went viral. Ms Revathy allegedly posted the video on her social media page which then got amplified. The police suspect the video has been shot inside the BRS office.

According to the police, the video was shot in February but started circulating on social media on March 10, allegedly to coincide with the Budget session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly.

The Budget session of the Telangana assembly began on March 12.

The police have also said that they would be looking into the funding of the channel.

Revanth Reddy's Warning

The Chief Minister has taken a strong stance on the matter, warning that stringent action would be taken, as per the law, against those engaging in "defamatory propaganda under the guise of journalism." He said that leaders of journalists' unions should define a journalist and a list of (mainstream) journalists.

Mr Reddy, said his "blood is boiling" over the remarks and that he wanted to have the people who posted these marked "stripped and paraded", adding in the same breadth that he "will not exceed any limits".

Slamming the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for defending the journalists, he said, "The BRS is upset when police cases are filed against paid artistes who posted abusive videos recorded in their party office".

The leaders of the BRS, meanwhile, met the two women this afternoon. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the leaders said the arrest was a "violation of the freedom of the press". "It was wrong on the part of the police to arrest the journalists in such a manner," they added.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao, while speaking to NDTV's Uma Sudhir, criticised the police action, saying it is "reminding us of emergency days". He also took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, mocking that he carries a copy of the Constitution but that the Congress government in Telangana was not respecting its provisions.

When he was asked if the channel was funded by BRS, he said, "How does it matter? People can still post and say whatever they want to".

Earlier, a court issued a show-cause notice to the investigative officer of the case, seeking answers on how a police team went to the homes of the journalists in plain clothes early in the morning and why their families weren't informed.