In a case related to making derogatory posts on social media against judges and judiciary, separate chargesheets have been filed against four accused before the Competent Court, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Monday. On September 11, 2020, the CBI had registered a case against 16 accused and taken over the investigation of 12 FIRs from Andhra Pradesh CID in pursuance of the orders of High Court of Andhra Pradesh. The original FIRs were registered on the complaints from Registrar General of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, according to a statement issued by the CBI on Monday.

It was alleged that the key personnel occupying posts of prominence in the state of Andhra Pradesh by intentionally targeting the judiciary, made derogatory posts on social media platforms against judges and judiciary following a few court verdicts delivered by the judges of High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Action was also initiated by the CBI, after it had registered this case to get objectionable posts removed from the social media platforms, public domains and a lot of such posts/accounts were removed from the internet.

During the course of the investigation, the accused were arrested on July 27 and August 7 this year, from Vijayawada and Hyderabad. They are presently in Judicial Custody.

On September 8, CBI had arrested five people in the case. CBI had alleged that the role of a Lok Sabha member, Nandigam Suresh and MLA  Amanchi Krishna Mohan of the YSRCP, are under scanner in the case, and both have been examined by the agency to unearth a larger conspiracy.

A charge sheet was earlier filed on September 2, this year, against another accused Lingareddy Rajasekhar Reddy for allegedly posting defamatory content against the High Court and Supreme Court judges on social media

The High Court of Andhra Pradesh ordered the CBI probe into the case and a report to be submitted to it in a sealed cover.

(With inputs from IANS)