Former Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister P. Balakrishna Reddy, who had to resign his post on Monday after being convicted by a trial court in a rioting case, has filed an appeal in the Madras High Court challenging the conviction and the four years and one month of imprisonment imposed on him.
A special court for hearing cases related to Members of Parliament and MLAs had convicted him in a 21-year-old case under Sections 147 (rioting), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and Section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act of 1992. Explaining the case against him in detail, the appellant stated that in 1998, 33 residents of Bagalur village near Hosur in Krishnagiri district had died after consuming illicit liquor. The villagers suspected that the police were hand in glove with the brewers. During a protest, the police resorted to lathi charge.