The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to senior journalist Kommineni Srinivasa Rao, who was arrested by Andhra Pradesh Police on June 9, over the alleged derogatory remarks on women from Amaravati during a debate on the Sakshi television channel.
Srinivasa Rao, an anchor with the channel, was moderating the show during which one of the panellists made some objectionable comments. A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan directed the release of Srinivasa Rao, noting that he did not make the comments.
The apex court granted bail and ordered his release on a plea challenging the arrest. Questioning the Andhra Pradesh government over the arrest, the bench observed that it was necessary that Rao’s journalistic rights and his fundamental right to freedom of speech were protected.
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It ordered the petitioner’s release subject to conditions imposed by the trial court. It also directed Rao not to make any derogatory statements on his show or allow anyone else to make the same. The 70-year-old journalist was arrested by the state police from his residence in Hyderabad on June 9. He was brought to the Guntur district, where a court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.
The police on June 11 arrested journalist and political analyst V.V. Krishnam Raju, who had allegedly made derogatory remarks about women from the Amaravati region. Krishnam Raju, who was arrested in Visakhapatnam district on the night of June 11, was produced before the Mangalgiri court the next day.
The court sent him to judicial custody till June 26. Krishnam Raju had allegedly referred to Amaravati as a ‘capital of prostitutes’ during a debate aired live on June 6. The Sakshi news channel is owned by the family of YSR Congress Party President and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
A case was registered against the two journalists and the management of Sakshi TV on June 9. The case was registered at the Thullur Police Station in Guntur under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Information Technology Act, and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The FIR includes offences under sections 79, 196(1), 353(2), 299, 356(2), 61(1)BNS, 67 ITA-2008, 3(1)(U), SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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