The Telangana High Court has temporarily stopped the arrest of BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy in connection with a case involving alleged bribe demands related to illegal mining activities. The interim relief was granted by Justice K. Lakshman after the court found that crucial procedures, like verifying call data records, were not followed by the police.
According to the complaint filed by Smt. Katta Uma Devi, Reddy had previously demanded ₹25 lakhs from her husband in October 2023 and later called again on April 18, 2025, asking for another ₹50 lakhs. Due to her husband’s poor health, Uma Devi herself lodged the police complaint on April 21, 2025, with the Subedari Police Station. The FIR was registered the same day as Crime No. 252 of 2025.
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The court noted that there was a delay of over three days in filing the complaint and that no preliminary investigation was conducted before registering the FIR. More importantly, the Investigating Officer failed to retrieve call data records to verify whether the alleged calls were indeed made on April 18.
“It is relevant to note that the Investigating Officer did not obtain any call data to ascertain the fact that petitioner called the husband of 2nd respondent twice on 18.04.2025, so far. Admittedly, the investigation is pending,” Justice Lakshman observed.
The complainant’s driver, Pokeda Giri Babu, also gave a statement confirming that Reddy threatened and collected ₹25 lakhs from the complainant’s husband on October 25, 2023, and again demanded ₹50 lakhs during a call in April 2025.
Reddy, through his counsel Sri T. V. Ramana Rao, sought quashing of the FIR, claiming it was filed with malicious intent. He argued that villagers had approached him with complaints about illegal quarrying by the complainant’s husband, and he only called to warn him. Reddy insisted the FIR was a retaliatory move to stop him from performing his duties as an MLA, especially with upcoming public events.
However, the court did not fully accept Reddy's defense. While acknowledging that he may have acted on public complaints, the judge stated that being a public representative, Reddy should have guided the villagers to report the issue to appropriate authorities rather than directly calling the individual accused of illegal mining.
“It is to be noted that on receipt of the complaint from the villagers about the illegal mining operations being conducted by the husband of 2nd respondent, the petitioner being the Member of Legislative Assembly from Huzurabad Constituency, ought to have advised them to submit a representation to the authorities of Mining Department. Instead of doing so, the petitioner has telephoned to the husband of 2nd respondent,” the court remarked.
In light of these facts, the court ordered that Reddy not be arrested until April 28, 2025, and directed him to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Padi Kaushik Reddy Vs. State of Telangana
Counsel for petitioner: T. V. Ramana Rao
Counsel for respondents: Public Prosecutor
