Nelapadu (Guntur district) : The division bench of Andhra Pradesh High Court here on Wednesday took a strong exception to the abusive language used by the first citizen of the Guntur Municipal Corporation against the opposition leaders in 2023.
TDP state organising secretary Kanaparti Srinivasa Rao filed a criminal case against mayor Kavati Manohar Naidu alleging that he had used the highly objectionable language when the TDP activists staged a demonstration against the arrest of TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu in September last year. The mayor along with YSRCP supporters reached the spot and hurled abuses against Jana Sena supremo Pawan Kalyan and TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh, besides attacking the protesters police cane, it was alleged.
Guntur Arundelpet police filed a criminal case against the mayor on November 16.
Mayor Manohar Naidu filed the quash petition in the High Court.
Hearing the petition, the division bench stated that it was unbecoming of the mayor, who is the first citizen of the city, to use such language. “How could the mayor abuse the family members and mothers of the demonstrating people? Those who resort to abusive language should be punished irrespective of political party they belong,” said the bench and advised the counsel of the mayor to behave himself and come closer to the people with service but not by abusive language.
The division bench directed the police to serve a notice to the mayor and take his explanation and posted further hearing by six weeks.
