Government rewards Trimurthulu, withdraws criminal case

Has the state government ‘’rewarded’’ Thota Trimurthulu, who joined the Congress and was elected as an MLA in the recent byelection, by dropping prosecution proceedings against him in a criminal case?

In a move that has raised several eyebrows, both in political and bureaucratic circles, the criminal proceedings against the Ramachandrapuram MLA were dropped on Saturday. Though the official reason given is that there is no material evidence on record to prove the guilt of Trimurthulu, sources said the powers-that-be decided to drop the case after the erstwhile PRP leader had joined the Congress and won the Assembly election on Congress ticket.

Though Tirmurthulu had made a request last year seeking dropping of the prosecution proceedings against him, the then East Godavari superintendent of police did not recommend withdrawal of prosecution. He also insisted that the prosecution proceedings must go on. Yet, the government has withdrawn the proceedings.

Director-general of police V.Dinesh Reddy informed the government that the assistant public prosecutor concerned had given the opinion that it was not a fit case to proceed further in the absence of material evidence on record to prove the guilt of Trimurthulu.

Despite consistent efforts by Telangana leaders, the cases against students were not withdrawn fully even after two years. ‘’It took a lot of time for the government to withdraw the cases against students even after the government’s assurance on the floor of the Assembly. But, in Thota’s case, it withdrew the case even in the face of East Godavari SP’s refusal to drop the case against the then ex-MLA,’’ sources said.

A case was registered against Tirmurthulu in 2006 under Sections 447, 323 and 506 read with Section 34 of IPC. The sections deal with criminal intimidation, hurt and criminal trespass. The case was pending before the fourth additional judicial first class magistrate’s court, Kakinada. Trimurthulu, while seeking withdrawal the prosecution, said the case was registered basing on a false report.