Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Friday, June 13, granted bail to journalist Srinivasa Rao, who was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh police on June 9 for moderating a show in which a panellist made derogatory remarks on women from Amravati.
A bench of Justice PK Mishra and Manmohan granted bail to the journalist after hearing a writ petition. Rao filed a petition challenging his arrest and remand.
The court questioned the rationale behind arresting Rao for a comment he did not make. “Someone else is making the statement. How can this be?” Justice Manmohan asked.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared on behalf of the Andhra Pradesh government, argued that Srinivas was “goading and abetting the man who was making that statement and laughing.”
In response, Justice Manmohan said, “When someone makes an outrageous statement, we laugh it off. That doesn’t make us co-conspirators.”
The controversy began on June 6 during a panel discussion on Rao’s show, when political analyst VV Krishnamraju referred to the state capital, Amaravati, as the “capital of sex workers.” He remarked while citing findings from a recently released study by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which noted that Andhra Pradesh has the second-highest concentration of female sex workers in India.
The remark triggered outrage, and the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena leaders termed it an insult to the women and culture of Amaravati.
Krishnamraju was arrested on June 11 near the Gosthani River in Bheemili, Visakhapatnam district. Two others who were with him at the time were also taken into custody. All three were being transported to Vijayawada. Meanwhile, a case was also registered against the management of Sakshi TV on June 9 in connection with the incident.
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