Hyderabad, June 12 -- In the span of two days, the Telangana High Court made two distinct, contradictory rulings over when criticism of politicians or public leaders on WhatsApp counted as a criminal offence.

While the High Court allowed a criminal revision and halted proceedings in one case, it refused to quash legal actions in another.

Refuses to dismiss criminal proceedings

In the first case, the High Court refused to quash criminal proceedings against a man who allegedly shared objectionable messages against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders, specifically targeting a party member.

The single-judge bench of Justice Tirumala Devi Eada held that the allegations made against the petitioner prima facie justify a trial and legal proc...