Hy'bad journalist booked for tweeting about power cut

A case was registered against a woman journalist in Hyderabad on Wednesday for allegedly defaming the Telangana government and its power distribution company over her claim in a social media post that there was seven hours' power interruption in L B Nagar area.

Based on a complaint lodged by an Assistant Engineer working in Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TGSPDCL), a case was registered against Revathi P under IPC Section 505 (statements conducing public mischief) and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act at L B Nagar Police station, police said.

As per the FIR, the complainant stated that on June 18 he received a message from his higher officials about a social media user posting a message that power supply was interrupted for seven hours in L B Nagar area. But after an enquiry from data sheets of the sub station over the past six months, it was noticed that there was no power interruption of seven hours in L B Nagar area, he said.

The complainant claimed that the journalist had made a false allegation and was intentionally defaming the state government and his organisation TGSPDCL.

He sought necessary action against the social media account holder, accusing her of intentionally spreading false propaganda against the state government and their organisation and making it viral on social media by "creating an incident that did not happen".

Revathi in an X post on Tuesday had said that a woman from L B Nagar, tired of frequent power cuts, posted on X about it and that a lineman had dropped by at her residence, demanding that she delete the post.

"My tweet (post) about a woman being harassed by @tgspdcl's employee evoked response from many. BUT what I didn't expect is how swiftly the POLICE will react to my tweet!," the journalist said.

After the case was registered, Revathi in a post on X said: "MY MEDAL OF HONOR: AN FiR. In a BIZARRE move, an FIR has been lodged against me while the actual culprits from Telangana Power & Co, who harassed a female consumer in broad daylight, walk free!".

She tagged Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and asked "@RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @revanth_anumula - Is this your stance on media independence? Is your government trying to silence journalists who expose the truth?".

"If you do believe in democracy, stand with us when we fight for justice, and protect the freedom of the press!", she said.