High Court cracks whip, issues notice to Home Secretary

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court, in a significant development on Thursday, issued formal notice to CV Anand, Principal Secretary (Home) and initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against him, registered as contempt case.

The proceedings were initiated by a single bench chaired by Justice N V Shravan Kumar, on account of an apparent violation of subsisting court orders. The matter has its origins in a series of memos issued by the Home department enhancing movie ticket prices for Telugu films.

The Home Secretary had first issued a memo enhancing the ticket price for “Raja Saab.” The memo was challenged before the HC by way of a writ; the court suspended the memo and directed all exhibitors to strictly adhere to GO 120 (Home), dated December 21, 2021, which prescribes the rates fixed by the government for movie ticket pricing.

Notwithstanding the court’s clear order suspending the memo, the Home Secretary proceeded, on the very same date of January 8, 2026, to issue a further memo enhancing the ticket price for “Manashankara Varaprasad.”

The subsequent memo was uploaded on the official website on January 9, 2026. This memo, in the face of a subsisting judicial order, was treated by the court as a prima facie violation warranting initiation of contempt proceedings.

Taking cognisance of the case suo motu, Justice Kumar registered the case as contempt case and issued notice to Anand calling on him to respond to the allegations of contempt. The Government Pleader (Home) Mahesh Raje, appeared for the Home Secretary and accepted notice on his behalf.

The case was adjourned for three weeks, within which time the Home Secretary is directed to file response to the notice.