Telangana HC orders notices to 21 accused in Erravalli 'purification' case

The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the Station House Officer of Markoor police station in Siddipet district to issue notices to 21 persons named in three First Information Reports (FIRs) registered over an alleged act of "purification" using turmeric water.

Justice T. Madhavi Devi passed the order while hearing three separate lunch motions filed by the accused. The petitioners had approached the court seeking protection from arrest, apprehending that police would take them into custody as part of the investigation.

The cases against the 21 persons were booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

In its direction, the court instructed investigators to serve notices on all the petitioners under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and to proceed further in accordance with law.

The FIRs stem from events that followed an altercation during the ongoing Assembly session. BRS legislators and law and order police personnel posted outside the Assembly's main gate clashed after the latter stopped the legislators from entering the premises. The situation escalated after two BRS legislators allegedly made derogatory remarks and used foul language against Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar.

Calling the remarks an attack on Dalits, hundreds of Congress activists, led by their leaders, took out rallies and marched towards the farmhouse of former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao at Erravalli in Siddipet district.

After the protests concluded, some individuals, including the petitioners, sprinkled turmeric water on the road near the Hanuman temple at Varadarajpur village, claiming that the demonstration had desecrated the area. The police subsequently registered the FIRs over these acts of "purification."