SC orders release of senior Telangana journalist held for panellist's remarks

Hindustan Times

15 hours ago

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the immediate release of senior journalist and Sakshi TV anchor Kommineni Srinivasa Rao, who was arrested by Andhra Pradesh police on June 9 over controversial comments made by a panellist during a televised debate, noting that Rao had not made the objectionable remarks himself and that 'freedom of journalistic expression deserves protection'.
A division bench of the Supreme Court comprising justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and justice Manmohan issued an order directing the police to release him on bail as per the conditions to be suggested by the local court in Mangalagiri in Guntur district.
Rao, a 70-year-old veteran journalist, was arrested from his Hyderabad residence and transported to Guntur in Andhra Pradesh after a police complaint was filed over a live broadcast of the KSR Live Show on June 6. During the show, panelist and fellow journalist VVR Krishnam Raju allegedly made deeply derogatory and obscene remarks against the women in the Amaravati region. While Krishnam Raju was named accused No. 1 (A-1) in the case, Rao was named A-2.
The complaint, filed by Kambampati Sireesha, a Dalit leader of the Amaravati Capital Farmers' Joint Action Committee, accused the show of humiliating the self-respect of Amaravati's women, especially Dalit women. She also alleged that the Sakshi TV management appeared to have encouraged the statement.
Following the complaint, the police booked Rao, Raju and Sakshi TV management under multiple laws, including the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Section 67 of the IT Act (publishing obscene material electronically), and several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), such as Sections 79 (outraging a woman's modesty) and 196 (promoting enmity between groups).
Rao was produced before the additional judicial magistrate of first class-cum-civil judge court in Mangalagiri, which remanded him to judicial custody for two weeks. On Thursday, he moved the Supreme Court seeking bail.
Arguing on behalf of Rao, senior advocate Siddharth Dave said his client was only an anchor hosting the debate on Sakshi television channel and the alleged abusive remarks were made by a panellist.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the state government, said Kommineni was goading and abetting the man who was making that statement. 'He was laughing, when the panelist was using abusive language against women of Amaravati,' he said.
The bench asked the state how the petitioner could be arrested for the statements made by someone else. 'When someone makes an outrageous statement, we laugh it off. They can't be termed co-conspirators,' the bench said.
The bench also mentioned the need to protect journalistic freedom. The bench passed the order Kommineni was nowhere concerned with the statement made by one of the participants in the debate. It said the accused be released on bail subject to the conditions to be imposed by the trial court.
Meanwhile, the Mangalagiri court on Thursday remanded Krishnam Raju, who was arrested by the police the previous night at Visakhapatnam, to judicial custody till June 26, for his alleged derogatory comments against Amaravati women.
People familiar with the matter said in the remand report filed in the court, the police said Krishnam Raju admitted to have made the derogatory comments as he had utter contempt for chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and ruling Telugu Desam Party.
'Despite the outrage over his derogatory statements that deeply insulted the women of the Amaravati region, Krishnam Raju has not issued an apology. Instead, he reportedly went a step further by creating and releasing videos on YouTube defending and justifying his remarks, stating there was nothing wrong in what he said,' the police said in the report.
They further told the court that Krishnam Raju, being fully aware that Amaravati is home to people from various communities, castes, and religions, deliberately made such inflammatory statements. His intention, they alleged, was to demean and humiliate all women of the region — especially Dalit and tribal women — thereby hurting their dignity and self-respect.