Underlining the need to protect journalistic freedom, the Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to senior journalist K Srinivas Rao, also known as KSR, who was arrested over allegedly offensive remarks made by a panellist on a show anchored by him on a Telugu news channel, and wondered how an anchor could be arrested for comments made by a panellist.
Justice Manmohan, who was part of a two-judge bench, asked the state government, “Someone else is making the statement. How can this be?”
The bench, presided by Justice P K Mishra, directed that he be released on bail, subject to conditions as may be imposed by the trial court. “Considering that the petitioner himself has not made any such statement and his journalistic participation in a live TV show deserves to be protected so that the freedom of speech is also protected in the process, we direct that the petitioner shall be released in relation to the FIR, subject to the conditions to be imposed by the trial court,” it ordered.
The court, however, “made (it) clear that the petitioner shall not involve himself in any defamatory statement either by himself or by allowing others to make such statements in his presence in the show which the petitioner is anchoring or hosting.”
On June 9, the Andhra Pradesh Police arrested Rao from Hyderabad over the alleged comments made on June 6 by a panellist who had appeared on a show on Sakshi TV and referred to the state capital Amaravati as the “capital of sex workers”.
The remarks, made apparently on the basis of a study by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which said that Andhra Pradesh has the second highest concentration of female sex workers in the country, led to a political row between the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led alliance and the Opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s wife Y S Bharathi Reddy heads the Sakshi Media Group.
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Following complaints, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered under various provisions including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
On Friday, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Rao, pointed out that the alleged objectionable remarks which formed the basis of the FIR were not made by him but by a panellist.
To the court’s query as to how the anchor could be arrested for comments by a panellist, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state, said Rao “was goading and abetting the man who was making that statement. He was laughing.”
Justice Manmohan, however, said, “When someone makes an outrageous statement, we laugh it off. They can’t be termed co-conspirators.” Justice Mishra stated, “Everyday this is happening!”
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Defending the arrest, Rohatgi said, “This is not a case of somebody being a standby. He is not a bystander. He is a part of the same channel.” The court did not seem to agree. “But he is not saying this,” said Justice Mishra.
“He is goading the fellow. You can’t go around saying things like it is a capital of sex workers,” said Rohatgi. Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, who also appeared for the state, submitted that the statement was more than defamatory.
The bench, however, went on to grant relief to Rao.
