Defamation case: KTR appears in court, says Surekha's words hurtful

 Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday appeared in the city criminal court, Nampally, in the defamation case filed against Endowments Minister Konda Surekha.

KTR gave a statement in the court that Surekha's comments would seriously damage him as well as the party. He said after seeing her comments, people were calling him. Rao expressed distress and said he was shocked to hear the comments, which he termed as extremely dreadful. In his statement, KTR said people had known him for 18 years; they were also shocked to hear the comments.

When the judge wanted the BRS leader to spell out the minister’s comments, he said some words hurt. “Konda Surekha, without any evidence, said I am a drug addict and have held rave parties.” He urged the court to consider the points in the statement, as he could not speak on all the comments.

KTR gave the statement in court for almost half an hour. The videos of Surekha's comments were submitted. The court adjourned recording of statements of remaining witnesses to October 30.

KTR had served legal notices to Surekha, seeking an unconditional apology for making the same allegations again. He filed a defamation case as there was no response from the Minister.

The BRS leader also sent legal notice to Union Minister Bandi Sanjay for making baseless and defamatory comments. He warned that he would file a defamation suit if he did not tender an unconditional apology within a week.