SC Quashes FIR Against Actor Mohan Babu Over 2019 Protest
The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the FIR registered against veteran Telugu actor and former MP Manchu Mohan Babu and his son Vishnu Vardhan Babu, in a case relating to a protest rally held in 2019 over the issue of student fee reimbursements in Andhra Pradesh.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and KV Viswanathan set aside the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision refusing to quash the criminal proceedings against them and allowed Mohan Babu and his son’s plea.
Since the elections were scheduled in the state, a complaint was lodged by the then Model Code of Conduct Officer, saying that the protest involved a rally and dharna that allegedly obstructed traffic for over four hours. Police had registered an FIR on the basis of the complaint.
A protest led by Mohan Babu and his sons Manchu Vishnu and Manchu Manoj, and two other senior staff members of Sri Vidyaniketan Educational Institutions was held on March 22, 2019.
They demanded the release of pending student fee reimbursement funds by raising slogans against the then-ruling government of Andhra Pradesh for not granting students’ fee reimbursement to their educational institutions.
The High Court had refused to quash the FIR, saying the allegations levelled against them required trial. (ANI)
