In a significant development with regard to indiscriminate filing of cases against the YSR Congress party’s social media activists on the charges of posting derogatory comments against the Chandrababu Naidu government, the Andhra Pradesh high court has issued a circular pulling up the lower courts for sending such social media activists to judicial remand.
In the circular issued on Saturday, the high court registrar asked all the judicial magistrates to strictly follow legal guidelines while remanding individuals in cases related to social media posts and comments.
The court noted that in several cases, magistrates are remanding accused persons without following the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in the Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar judgment (2014).
The high court expressed concern that this is leading to unnecessary arrests and misuse of criminal provisions, especially when the alleged offences carry a sentence of less than seven years.
The circular also referred to the recent Supreme Court judgment in Imran Pratap Gadhi vs State of Gujarat (March 28, 2025), which emphasized that no FIR involving speech, writing or artistic expression should be registered without a preliminary enquiry.
As per the judgment, such enquiries must be approved by a Deputy Superintendent of Police and completed within 14 days under Section 173(3) of the BNS.
All judicial magistrates have been clearly instructed to ensure that before ordering remand in such cases, they must check whether the police have followed the law, especially verifying repeated or serious offences, risk of evidence tampering, or need for custodial investigation.
The high court has warned that any deviation from these instructions will be treated seriously. Magistrates who violate the circular may face contempt proceedings and departmental action.