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Justice Tirumala Devi Eada of the Telangana High Court, on Friday, ordered a notice to artiste Dharma Satya Sai Srinivasa Mahesh Kakani in a criminal petition filed by Telugu TV news channel Chief Executive Officer D.H.V.S.S.N. Murthy seeking to quash the criminal case registered against him. The judge directed the police to issue notice to Mr. Murthy under Section 35 (3) of Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), as part of the investigation into the case registered against him by the Kukatpally police. The FIR was issued against the TV channel CEO invoking Section 308 (3) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 72 of Information Technology Act, based on a complaint lodged by Mr. Kakani. The complainant levelled serious allegations of Mr. Murthy attempting to extort money from him taking advantage of the personal dispute the former had with his wife Chirumamilla Gowthamy. While Ms. Gowthamy was named as the first accused, Mr. Murthy was mentioned as the second in the FIR issued on November 4. Before the case was registered, Mr. Kakani filed a writ petition in the HC stating that Kukatpally police declined to issue the FIR based on his complaint. He sought a direction to police to register a case against Mr. Murthy and Ms. Gowthamy. Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar, after hearing contentions of the petitioner, respondents and the police, instructed police to take action in accordance with the law if the petitioner furnished evidence and other material to support his charges. Mr. Murthy knocked the doors of the HC requesting to quash the FIR against him. He maintained that the FIR was “evidently an outcome of personal rivalry and a counterblast to internal disputes in the media and entertainment industry”.
