Konda Surekha is also facing legal action from actor Nagarjuna for making personal remarks against his family.
Published Oct 10, 2024 | 4:21 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 10, 2024 | 4:21 PM
Telangana minister Konda Surekha and BRS Working President KTR.
BRS party working president KT Rama Rao, commonly known as KTR, has filed a criminal defamation case against Telangana Minister Konda Surekha in connection to the remarks made against him.
Konda Surekha recently made controversial remarks linking actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha’s divorce with former Minister and BRS working president KTR.
She had also accused KTR of being a drug addict and taking advantage of young female actors.
Following this, KTR sent a legal notice to Surekha on 2 October, demanding an apology.
The BRS leader, in a statement, then said that Surekha had dished out a tissue of lies over a phone tapping case with which he was “no way concerned”.
“Her comments are highly defamatory in nature. She misused her office. She spoke out rank lies. As there is a possibility that people might think what she has said might be true, I have decided to file a defamation and criminal case against her if she does not tender a public apology within 24 hours,” he had said.
The criminal complaint has been filed under section 222 R/W section 223 of the BNSS.
#Telangana: @BRSparty working president @KTRBRS has filed a criminal defamation case against Minister Konda Surekha.
He had earlier sent a legal notice on 2 October following Surekha made comments on KTR accusing him of being a drug addict and taking advantage of young female… pic.twitter.com/1IYqsxqyHm
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) October 10, 2024
She is also facing legal action from actor Nagarjuna for making personal remarks against his family.
She is being charged under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Nagarjuna accused Congress leader Surekha of deliberately spreading lies, fully aware that they were false, with the sole aim of tarnishing his personal, professional and family reputation.
On Tuesday, 8 October, Nagarjuna recorded the statement in connection with the case at a Hyderabad court.
Answering the court’s question as to why he filed the defamation case, he said that her comments had done a lot of damage to the reputation of his family besides causing them mental agony.
He also spoke about Konda Surekha’s unwarranted comments on the divorce between his son and actor Naga Chaitanya and actor Samantha. As Nagarjuna’s counsel argued that Surekha’s comments were baseless and untrue, the court adjourned the case to 10 October.
Surekha was targeting KTR for not condemning the BRS’ social media campaign against her and supporting it on top of it.
Furious, Surekha took off on KTR, dragging Samantha and Nagarjuna Akkineni’s family into it, which angered the actor’s family, prompting him to file defamation and prosecution cases against her. Though she apologised for making the comments and said that the intended target was KTR, Nagarjuna did not back down.
She had said: “KTR is the reason Naga Chaitanya and Samantha divorced. KTR is the reason many female actors are getting married and leaving the industry. He is addicted to drugs and got them (female actors) addicted as well. He held rave parties and blackmailed them.” Furthermore, she claimed that it was an open secret within the film industry.
The entire film industry stood by Samantha after Surekha’s comments. Samantha also expressed her displeasure over the way Surekha had acted and advised her to realise that divorce was a personal issue and that there should be no speculation on it.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula, with inputs from Saicharan Sana)
