The Andhra Pradesh high court, which has been delivering a series of judgements against the YSR Congress party government in the state on various issues, gave a judgement at last in support of a decision taken by it.
On Monday, the state high court upheld an order (GO Ms No. 2430) issued by the Jagan government seeking to take legal action against mainstream media houses for carrying baseless, fake and false news that would cause disrepute to the government.
The court set aside the petition challenging the GO, which was described as draconian and the one against freedom of press.
The high court agreed with the contention of the secretary of the state information and public relations department that cases would be filed by the secretaries of the departments concerned, only after exhausting all the other options including rejoinders and clarifications by the government.
The court also agreed with the argument that the GO was not aimed at taking criminal action against the media houses nor was it intended to restrict the freedom of press or denial of information or curtailing the publications and dissemination of information.
The high court felt that the GO would bring in some sort of accountability and responsibility in the media houses while publishing the news stories with moral values.
“In view of this, there is no need for any judicial interference in this regard,” the court said, adding that the media houses should carry news stories as per the guidelines of the Press Council of India.
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