The Andhra Pradesh government on 31 October issued an order, authorising bureaucrats to sue media houses for ‘defamatory, baseless and false’ reports.
Two weeks after the state cabinet took the controversial decision, the government officially issued orders empowering secretaries of the respective departments to sue media houses, ignoring the flak it drew from the journalist fraternity and other quarters.Leader of Opposition and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu reacted strongly to the release of the GO and called it draconian.
The Government Order (GO) issued by T Vijay Kumar Reddy, ex-officio secretary to the government, Information and Public Relations Department reads: “The government hereby accords permission to delegate powers to the secretaries of respective departments to issue rejoinders, file complaints and lodge appropriate cases, if need be, through public prosecutors against defamatory news items published/telecast/posted in print/electronic/social media pertaining to their respective departments after following due process of law.”
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