Overview

• The Supreme Court granted bail to Kommineni Srinivasa Rao and ordered his immediate release after finding that he did not utter the derogatory comment during the June 6 live broadcast.
• The two-judge bench held that anchoring a show does not amount to criminal liability for a panellist’s statements, stressing constitutional protections for journalistic freedom.
• The court directed that Rao be barred from making or permitting defamatory content on future broadcasts under conditions set by the trial court.
• YSRCP leaders called the verdict a rebuke to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s administration, accusing the TDP-led government of political vendetta.
• V.V.R. Krishnam Raju, the panellist who referred to Amaravati as the “capital of sex workers,” remains in judicial custody until June 26 following his arrest on June 11.