The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday filed an FIR based on a formal complaint by the Registrar General of the state High Court on several posts in social media criticising judges and their recent judgements.
The Cyber wing of the CID booked the case under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The FIR named one D Kishore Reddy for his alleged abusive and defamatory posts on social media against judges.
The High Court on Tuesday initiated contempt proceedings against 49 people including Nandigam Suresh, a YSRCP MP and former MLA Amanchi Krishna Mohan, for allegedly attributing motives and defaming judges and the court.
Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Gautam Sawang in a statement, warned social media activists of dire consequences if they 'crossed limits'. He said the department will not tolerate any mala fide campaign against constitutional bodies.
The top cop said the police will intensify the investigation into the complaint lodged by the High Court and at the same time, strict action will be taken against the acts aimed at defaming the government intentionally without any substance.
Earlier this week, during a hearing, advocate Lakshmi Narayana, who filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), said that he was 'hurt over the attempts to turn the court into a political platform.'
The petitioner said that after the High Court ordered a CBI probe into the manhandling of a suspended government doctor by the Visakhapatnam police on May 22, several 'objectionable' comments were made on social media.
He also pointed out that there were several such comments during the court's judgments setting aside the government order to paint public buildings in the colour of the ruling party flags and in another case, setting aside the suspension of senior IPS officer AB Venkateswara Rao.
Criticising these judgments, some people over social media targeted the judges using vulgar language and attributed motives to them, the petitioner claimed.
With PTI and IANS inputs