The Telangana Government has rejected the appeal for the release of suspended BJP MLA T Raja Singh, who is currently lodged in Cheralapally prison under the Public Detention Act. The appeal was submitted by his wife T Usha Bai, who has also filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking his release.

The PD Act Advisory Board appointed by the Telangana Government rejected the representation submitted by Singh’s wife, maintaining that “there are no valid grounds and reasons made out therein to set aside/revoke his detention order.”

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The controversial MLA from Goshamahal was detained by the Hyderabad Police on August 25 for making derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad, which led to communal tension in the Old City area. The Hyderabad police has submitted that there are 101 cases against the MLA suspended by the BJP and 18 among them are communal.

According to his advocate, the rejection was neither a shock nor a blow since there is a writ petition pending in the High Court seeking his release. The court has posted the matter for October 28. The state government has prepared a counter affidavit of about 1650 pages against his release.

Soon after his video with the derogatory comments was uploaded, Raja Singh had been arrested but was released by the court which said that the police had not followed the procedure.

He has claimed that he was merely copying stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, whose performance in Hyderabad led Singh to upload the video.

As trouble flared up in the Old City area, the AIMIM and the Congress demanded his arrest under the PD Act.

BJP by then had already suspended the MLA for making those comments and hence the party did not offer any support publicly though a few of his party colleagues helped him with legal counsel to secure his release.