Justice G. Sridevi of Telangana High Court on Monday granted bail to Teenmaar Mallanna, a journalist who had been jailed for over past nine weeks in different cases. The cases were registered against him on different charges, including usage of foul language against Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Mr. Mallanna, whose original name is Chintapandu Naveen, known for being highly critical of Mr. Rao, was first arrested this August 28. By then, five First Information Reports (FIRs) were issued against him on charge of abusing Mr. Rao. Three more FIRs were issued for allegedly using derogatory language against Chilakalaguda inspector.
A separate case under sections of Prevention of Atrocities Against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was registered against him by Medipally police of Rachakonda commissionerate. He got bails in other cases and moved the HC seeking bail in the case booked by Medipally police. He was in judicial custody from September 9 in this case.
The judge said Mr. Mallanna should furnish a personal bond of ₹15,000 along with two sureties each of similar amount in the trial court at L.B. Nagar. He should appear before the investigators every second Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. till completion of the probe and filing of charge-sheet, the order said. The judge made it clear that Mr. Mallanna should not indulge in similar offences in future and his bail gets cancelled if he does so. He was instructed not to interfere with the investigation, and must co-operate with the investigators. He should personally appear before the court concerned on each date of hearing till completion of the trial. Mr. Mallanna was released later in the evening from prison.
