Hyderabad: Panchayat Raj minister D Seethakka along with MLC Balmuri Venkat and other leaders appeared before the Special Judicial First Class Magistrate Court for Excise Cases at the Manoranjan Complex in Nampally on Saturday. The minister is facing charges related to an unauthorised protest held during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.

The legal action stems from a demonstration held within the Gandhinagar Police Station limits in April 2021. During that period, Seethakka, then an opposition MLA, led a protest demanding that the State government include Covid-19 treatment under the Rajiv Aarogyasri health scheme to assist poor families struggling with medical bills. Because the protest was conducted during a statewide lockdown and without prior official permission, the Gandhinagar police registered a case under sections 188, 269, and 270 of the Indian Penal Code.

During the proceedings, after hearing arguments from both sides, the court adjourned the matter for further hearing to February 5. Later, speaking to the media after the court hearing, minister Seethakka stated that the previous government had filed false cases against them in 2020 on allegations of violating pandemic regulations. She clarified that these illegal cases were filed simply because they had demanded the inclusion of COVID-19 treatment under the Aarogyasri scheme to reduce the financial burden on the common man. She remarked that it was unjust to accuse them of causing public inconvenience when their intentions were purely to serve the people.

The minister said that the protests were conducted peacefully while strictly adhering to all COVID-19 protocols. She emphasised that the protest was a necessary step to bring the plight of the common people to the government's notice as treatment costs had become unaffordable.

Expressing her full faith in the judiciary, Seethakka said she is confident that justice will prevail. Advocate Naguluri Krishna Kumar Goud presented the arguments on behalf of Seethakka.