Social Media troll case: High Court directs police to issue notices to 26, Google, X, Facebook

AMARAVATI: Taking a serious note of the alleged trolling of High Court and lower court judges and their families after the arrest of former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu in the skill scam, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday directed the AP DGP to issue notices to 26 persons and also Google, X and Facebook.

Advocate-General of Andhra Pradesh Subrahmanyam Sriram filed a contempt of court petition in the High Court on Tuesday appealing to the High Court to initiate legal action against those who trolled the judges on social media.

The AG in his plea pointed out that several TDP leaders, including Budha Venkanna, Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary and advocate S Ramakrishna, and several social media activists resorted to a free-for-all misuse of social media to intimidate the judges and their families.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, which heard the plea of the AG, directed the police to identify their social media handles and issue notices to the 26 persons and also Google, X and Facebook.

A few days ago advocates complained to President Draupadi Murmu about the derogatory social media posts against Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Judge Satya Venkata Hima Bindu who is currently hearing arguments in the skill development scam case.

She asked Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy to initiate appropriate action on social media posts against the ACB Court judge.