It cannot be said that merely because crime is reported under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, straightaway accused has to be arrested, the Telanagana High Court observed while refusing to direct the police to arrest an MLA who allegedly threatened a journalist.

Guguloth Santosh Naik, a journalist in Vaartha Telugu vernacular daily, had reported that the member of Legislative Assembly representing Patancheru Assembly constituency, and his henchmen grabbed prime lands, adjacent to main roads. He alleged that, infuriated with said report, the MLA  telephoned the petitioner and threatened him with dire consequences, abused him and his parents using filthy language and in the name of his caste in an uncivilized manner and directed him to appear before him. This made him file a complaint based on which a crime was registered against the MLA on 08.12.2020 under Sections 448, 504, 506 read with Section 109 IPC and Section 3(2) (va) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The Journalist, in his writ petition, alleged that the Police have not arrested the accused and there is no progress made in the crime reported.