A day after the Andhra Pradesh High Court issued a gag order against the media, restraining them from publishing and airing stories regarding an FIR in the Amaravati land case, YSRCP MP Midhun Reddy said that media freedom has been curbed by the court.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday. Midhun Reddy said, “The High Court has passed a gag order and issued a stay on the SIT (special investigation team)- saying that the land scam should not be shown on TV. All this is just because a former legal officer and a judge's kin has been accused in the case,” Midhun Reddy said in the Parliament.
The Rajampet MP said that the law should be the same for the Prime Minister and even for a common man.
Midhun Reddy reiterated the YSRCP’s demand that the Central Bureau of Investigation should probe the 4000-acre land scandal in Amaravati. The YSRCP MP alleged that a huge land scam took place in finalizing the capital city for Andhra Pradesh under the Chandrababu Naidu government. He also demanded a CBI probe in the Antarvedi chariot fire case, claiming that the incident is being communalized.
On Tuesday morning, the Guntur police filed a case against several persons in relation to the land scam. The FIR was filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. However, by evening the Andhra Pradesh High Court issued a gag order.
Chief Justice MK Maheshwari in her order said, “No coercive steps shall be taken in furtherance to FIR, which has been registered after filing of this writ petition against any of the accused. The enquiry investigation is also stayed. It is further directed that the news in regard to registration of FIR or in the context of the said FIR shall not be made public in any electronic, print or social media, to foist the office of a former Advocate General and also with respect to the other alleged accused persons.”
The order added, “Social media posts shall also not be published and, in this regard, the Director General of Police, A.P., and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, shall take steps to inform the relevant social media platforms/houses in this regard.”