"Have Thick Skin": Top Court Junks BJP's Defamation Case Against Revanth Reddy

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by the BJP's Telangana unit challenging a high court order that quashed a defamation case against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over his speech during the 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign.

A bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and Atul S Chandurkar said the politicians should have a "thick skin".

"You should have a thick skin to bear all of this if you are a strong politician," Chief Justice Gavai said.

"We have repeatedly said on many occasions that courts cannot be converted into political battlegrounds," Chief Justice BR Gavai added.

The top court also warned the petitioner of a Rs 10 lakh fine if he pressed for arguing further.

During a rally last year, Mr Reddy allegedly said the BJP was going to change the Constitution and end the reservations if it secured more than 400 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP's Telangana unit, represented by its general secretary Karam Venkateshwarlau, filed a complaint in May 2024 against Mr Reddy, alleging that he had given a speech that defamed the party.

A trial court in August last year said that a prima facie case was made against the Congress leader for the alleged offences of defamation under the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Section 125 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with promoting enmity between classes in connection with an election.

Mr Reddy, however, challenged the trial court order in the Telangana High Court, contending that the allegations do not make a prima facie case against him. He also argued that political speeches cannot be made a subject matter of defamation.

The Telangana High Court on August 1 allowed Mr Reddy's plea and quashed the trial court order.

The high court agreed with Mr Reddy's contention that in the case of political speeches, the threshold to allege defamation and maintain a complaint under Section 199 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) should be much higher.

(With agency inputs)