Justice Tirumala Devi Eada of the Telangana High Court on Friday ordered to issue notice to Dharma Satya Sai artiste Srinivasa Mahesh Kakani in a criminal petition filed by Telugu news channel CEO DHVSSN Murthy seeking to quash the criminal case against him.
The judge directed the police to issue a notice to Mr. Murthy under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), as part of the investigation into the case registered against him by the Kukatpally police.
The FIR was issued against the CEO of the TV channel under Section 308 (3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 72 of the Information Technology Act, following a complaint filed by Mr. Kakani.
The complainant made serious allegations of Mr. Murthy’s attempt to extort money from him using a personal dispute the former had with his wife Chirumamilla Gowthamy. While Ms. Gowthamy was named as the first accused, Mr. Murthy was mentioned as the second in the FIR issued on November 4.
Before the case was registered, Mr. Kakani had filed a plea in the HC stating that the Kukatpally police had refused to issue an FIR based on his complaint. He asked the police to register a case against Mr. Murthy and Ms. Gowthamy.
After hearing the submissions of the petitioner, the respondents and the police, Justice NV Shravan Kumar directed the police to take action as per law if the petitioner provides evidence and other materials to support his allegations.
Mr. Murthy knocked on the door of the HC and sought quashing of the FIR against him. He argued that the FIR was “clearly the result of personal rivalries and a counterpoint to internal disputes in the media and entertainment industry”.
Published – 07 Nov 2025 20:42 IST
