Kadapa District Principal Judge G. Sridevi on Tuesday granted an ad-interim injunction restraining leaders of the NDA and Congress from making derogatory comments against YSRCP president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy, particularly directing them to refrain from alleging that Mr. Avinash Reddy had “killed” his uncle and former Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, and that he was being shielded by Mr. Jagan.
The court directed APCC president Y.S. Sharmila, her cousin Suneetha Narreddy, TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu, TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh, BJP AP president D. Purandeswari, JSP president Pawan Kalyan, and TDP leader ‘B.Tech’ Ravi and their followers to also desist from propagating such allegations either through print, electronic or social media during the pendency of the case in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court at Nampally in Hyderabad.
The judge passed the order in a petition filed by YSRCP Kadapa district president K. Suresh Babu, who contended that the respondents were not supposed to make public statements on the murder case and create an impression that Mr. Avinash Reddy was the murderer and was being protected by Mr. Jagan, during election campaigns, and that too when the case was under adjudication by the CBI court.
In her order, Ms. Sridevi observed it was prima facie evident that the respondents made scurrilous and defamatory attacks on Mr. Jagan and Mr. Avinash Reddy, unmindful of the fact that every accused in a criminal case was presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Besides, it was to be noted that Mr. Jagan was never arrayed as an accused in the pending case, she said, and ordered that the respondents should remove the objectionable remarks from all media platforms, refrain from making unverified statements, maintain decent levels of public discourse and strictly adhere to the Model Code of Conduct.
