Hyderabad: A city court granted bail to two journalists of Telugu news channel NTV on Thursday, in a case relating to the telecast of an alleged defamatory story about a minister and a woman IAS officer. Reporter Dasari Sudheer and input editor Donthu Ramesh, who were arrested early Wednesday, were produced before a magistrate at his residence late in the night. The police sought judicial custody of the journalists, but the magistrate rejected the demand and ordered their release on bail. The two scribes were directed to surrender their passports and instructed not to leave the city without permission.
Court Rejects Police Custody, Grants Bail
During the arguments on the remand, the counsel for the accused brought to the magistrate’s notice that police had not recorded the statements of those said to be the victims in the case.
Journalists Allege Harassment After Release
After his release, Donthu Ramesh told media persons that they were subjected to mental harassment for 24 hours. He said working journalists were not arrested since the formation of Telangana, but the Revanth Reddy government not only arrested them for no crime but also subjected them to mental torture. He also questioned the formation of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Police Cite Multiple Legal Sections, Form SIT
Earlier, Hyderabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar said in a statement that a case under Sections 75, 78, 79, 351(1), 352, 61(2) and 238 of the BNS, Section 67 of the IT Act, and Sections 3 and 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, was registered on January 10 against certain Telugu news channels for allegedly airing wrong allegations against a senior woman officer.
For investigation of the case, an SIT comprising eight officers was constituted with N. Swetha, Joint Commissioner of Police, Law and Order (North Zone), as in-charge. During the course of investigation, on January 14, based on information received, the CCS team apprehended the two journalists, namely Dasari Sudheer (39), Senior Reporter, NTV, and Donthu Ramesh (52), Input Editor, NTV channel. Ramesh was detained by the RGI Airport Immigration Authority while attempting to travel to Bangkok by Thai Airways and was handed over to CCS police. The CCS police interrogated both the accused, seized material, and produced them before the Judicial Magistrate for judicial custody.