The Telangana High Court on Tuesday, January 3, directed election strategist Sunil Kanugolu to appear before the Hyderabad police. The direction was given in connection with political memes shared on social media, targeting the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Sunil leads a political consultancy called Inclusive Minds which handles Congress’ political strategy.
The High Court dismissed Sunil's petition challenging the summons issued by the cybercrime police for questioning, but directed the police not to arrest him. The cybercrime police had served a notice under section 41(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code, directing him to appear before them on December 30 with his explanation. However, Sunil Kanugolu, who was hired by the Telangana Congress to work out campaign strategies for the 2023 Assembly elections in the state, challenged the notice in the High Court and sought a stay on the execution of summons. As he did not appear before police on December 30, the police have issued a fresh notice directing him to make himself available for questioning on January 8.
A case was registered on November 24 based on a complaint by one R Samrat, who objected to a spoof video which made fun of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, IT minister KT Rama Rao, former MLA K Kavita and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The charges included sections 469 (Forgery for purpose of harming reputation) and 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of the Indian Penal Code.
The first notice was issued two weeks after the police raided the office of Inclusive Minds. The police, on December 13, had raided the office and three persons were detained. They were released after police recorded their statement.