Amaravati land scam: SC stays HC gag order on media from publishing news on FIR
Deccan ChronicleNew Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday vacated the AP High Court’s order gagging the media from reporting an FIR filed in Amaravati land case allegedly involving the state’s former advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas. The High Court by its September 15, 2020 order had said, “It is further directed that the news about 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 top court asked the High Court not to finally decide the petition filed by Dammalapati Srinivas against the registration of the FIR as it directed the listing of the matter in the week commencing from January 25, 2021. Assailing the interim order of the High Court directing no coercive action against former advocate-general Srinivas stalling of the investigation into the FIR and gagging media from reporting the FIR, senior counsel Rajeev Dhawan told the court that investigation into the FIR could not have been blocked. Meeting the arguments, senior counsel Harish Salve contended that the entire action of the AP government against the former advocate-general Srinivas was mala fide and was a case of “regime revenge” as the former advocate general had appeared against Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in a number of criminal matters.