Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s stay order on implementation of an Aam Aadmi Party government circular on initiating defamation proceedings against media on adverse reporting. He condemned the Delhi government’s efforts to “hide behind the iron curtain”.
Mr. Gupta, a senior BJP leader, said the Arvind Kejriwal government had been behaving with the media in an “erratic manner”, reflecting its panic reaction to truthful coverage of important public issues and its “misdeeds”.
Mr. Gupta affirmed that the media must be allowed to do their work in a professional manner without any intervention from the government.
“It is ironic that the political party which was always given fair and empathetic treatment by the media during its formative and struggling period should now raise an iron curtain against the freedom of Press.”
The Supreme Court’s stay order must open the eyes of the Kejriwal government to the need for following an open door policy with regard to media, said the Leader of Opposition, adding that Mr. Kejriwal must realise the importance of media in the government’s functioning.
It is ironic that the party which was always given fair and empathetic treatment by the media during its formative period should now raise an iron curtain against the freedom of press
