Hyderabad: As the move by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) to puts curbs on allegations against his government and state ministers gained momentum, the opposition parties have cried foul describing it as-anti democratic and dictatorial.
KCR has signed a file making it cognisable offence to make allegations against the chief minister and ministers. If it comes into effect the police will be empowered to book criminal cases suo moto against those making allegations even without any complaints. Similarly the government will also get the powers under sections 506 and 507 of IPC to take action against those indulging in criminal intimidation. Until now, for taking action against these sections the police was required to seek the approval of the court to register a case.
After the Chief Minister signed the file it was sent to the law department for scrutiny following which a formal government order will be issued for its implementation.
The move with the far-reaching implications has evoked a strong disapproval from the opposition parties. State Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy described the move as a “suppression” of opposition and said the Congress will continue to criticise the government and expose its failures and scams.
“If telling lies to the voters become a punishable offence, the Chief Minister will spend rest of his life in jail”, Reddy said adding that the Chief Minister was resorting to such moves because he was afraid of opposition exposing his failure in fulfilling his promises such as jobs to youth and funds to the women’s self help groups.
Former union minister and senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya also criticised the move and warned that amending the two sections of IPC will affect the image of the government. “I urge the Chief Minister to reconsider the move”, he said.
