Court asks Telangana minister not to make any further defamatory statement

Hyderabad, Oct 25 : A Hyderabad court on Friday directed Telangana's Forest and Environment Minister Konda Surekha not to make any further defamatory statements about Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K. T. Rama Rao.

Taking serious note of the comments made by the minister against Rama Rao, the court ordered the removal of these remarks from media, social media platforms, websites, and all social media channels.

It also issued instructions to YouTube, Facebook, and Google to delete videos containing these comments.

The city civil court gave the directions while hearing the defamation case filed by Rama Rao for Rs 100 crore. The court found Surekha's comments highly objectionable, expressing surprise that a responsible minister would make such remarks. It directed media outlets that broadcast or published these remarks to remove all related content from social media.

The court stated that Surekha's comments could have a harmful impact on society, emphasizing that all articles and videos linked to her remarks should not be available in the public domain. It adjourned further hearing in the case to October 21.

On October 2, Surekha had alleged that KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known, is responsible for actor Naga Chaitanya from Samantha Ruth Prabhu. While elaborating on her allegation, the minister had made certain comments. Naga Chaitanya’s father and popular actor Nagarjuna has also filed a defamation case against the minister. The BRS leader had served a legal notice asking Surekha to withdraw her remarks and apologise. When she refused to apologise and stated that she was standing by her remarks about KTR, he filed a defamation suit. KTR has previously clarified that he will not tolerate any allegations that damage his character and has issued warnings to anyone attempting to make such statements about him. He believes that the court's latest comments have strengthened KTR's position in the case. According to the BRS leader, Surekha has made similar remarks, which the Election Commission sharply criticised, but, despite this, there has been no change in Minister Surekha's approach.