Published Jun 18, 2026 | 4:57 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 18, 2026 | 5:19 PM
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan.
Synopsis: The Bengaluru City Civil Court has directed X, Google and Meta to remove content that Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan says is defamatory and related to allegations that he encroached on land in Telangana. The court expanded an earlier injunction to include specific webpages and barred the publication or sharing of the flagged material until the next hearing on 24 July.
The Bengaluru City Civil Court has directed X, Google and Meta to take down content that Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan alleges is defamatory.
The order restrains the publication, broadcasting, transmission, uploading or display of any flagged statements, articles or videos targeting the Janasena Party chief until the next hearing date.
Kalyan moved the court against X Corp, Google LLC, Meta and “Ashok Kumar’ (unknown persons), seeking protection from online content relating to allegations of encroachment in Telangana.
The suit followed a political row in Telangana over discrepancies in Kalyan’s declared assets in his 2024 general election affidavit.
On 10 June, Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Mohammed Moinuddin granted Kalyan an ad interim injunction restraining the platforms from hosting or circulating such material.
Kalyan then approached the court on 11 June, requesting that the order be expanded to specifically identify the URLs and links hosting the disputed content.
The judge noted that the material in question included articles, statements and videos repeating the land encroachment allegations, and agreed that identifying the specific links was necessary to make the original injunction effective.
The court accordingly modified its earlier order to cover the webpages submitted by Kalyan.
Senior Advocate Arun Shyam M represented Kalyan in the proceedings. The matter has been posted for further hearing on 24 July.
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Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS) chief Kalvakuntla Kavitha has alleged that Kalyan had encroached on an HMDA-recognised lake in Janwada village in Rangareddy district.
The allegations sparked a war of words between Kalyan and Kavitha. At a recent press conference at his Hyderabad residence, Kalyan rejected the claims and said that, if they were proven true, he would not hesitate to relinquish the land parcel.
Kavitha doubled down on her allegations while speaking to the press on 6 June, claiming she had revenue records to support them. Kalyan’s political opponents, including leaders from the YSRCP, subsequently called for a formal investigation.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad-based environmental activist and Congress leader Lubna Sarwath wrote to the Rangareddy Collectorate seeking official clarification on the matter.
She also questioned why the agricultural land was not included in the list of prohibited properties on the IGRS Telangana website. Sarwath told South First that she had not received a response.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
