Government’s response sought on brutality against scribes

HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court on Monday issued notices to the government authorities concerned to respond in two weeks in a suo moto PIL seeking to quash all the cases registered against journalists, social workers and others during the lockdown and to constitute a high-level committee under the State Legal Services Authority to look into the allegations of police brutality against the media personnel, social activists and general public during lockdown.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy was dealing with a suo moto PIL which was based on a letter addressed to the High Court by SQ Masood, a social worker, seeking directions to the State government to sensitise police on how to deal with people during a pandemic.

The petitioner submitted that there are a many complaints against the Telangana police for their brutality on print and electronic media persons, social workers and general public during the lockdown period. He sought court directions to the respondent authorities to constitute a high-level committee to look into the complaints about police brutality, to sensitize police not to resort to brutal action against the general public. The bench adjourned the hearing by two weeks.