Hyderabad: On Wednesday, Chinthapandu Naveen Kumar (Teenmaar Mallanna), MLC representing the Warangal, Nalgonda and Khammam constituencies, filed a writ before the HC seeking a direction to the consolidate and transfer to special courts all criminal cases registered against him and pending in various courts across the State. The petition is expected to come up for hearing before a single judge bench soon.

Mallanna sought directions to the Principal Secretaries (Law and Home), the DGP, and other authorities, to transfer all criminal cases registered against him in different police stations to the special courts constituted for adjudicating cases involving legislators. He contended that the multiplicity of cases has compelled him to attend courts in different districts, causing serious hardship.

The petitioner stated that he is not affiliated with any political party and is a journalist by profession. He runs a YouTube channel titled “Q News,” through which he analyses the performance of the government, discusses policy decisions with eminent personalities, and offers opinions aimed at improving governance.

According to him, several criminal cases have been registered against him in the course of his journalistic activities, which, he claims, are a consequence of his critical analysis and public commentary.

Mallanna pointed out that in compliance with the SC directions the government had issued GOs 6 and 183 constituting two special courts--special sessions court at Nampally--for trial of cases relating to MPs and MLAs, and a Special Judicial First Class Magistrate Court for Excise cases at Manoranjan Complex, to deal with criminal cases involving elected representatives.

The petitioner submitted that he had made a formal representation to the government seeking transfer of all criminal cases registered against him to the special courts so that they could be clubbed together and heard at a single forum, enabling him to effectively participate in the proceedings without the burden of attending multiple courts across the State. However, his request was rejected by authorities as “not maintainable” on the ground that the special courts constituted under the GOs were meant exclusively for MPs and MLAs.

Aggrieved by the rejection, Mallanna approached the HC seeking directions to the government to transfer, consolidate and cause withdrawal of all criminal cases registered against him to the special courts.