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The Press Club of India has come down strongly against the Andhra Pradesh government and the police for the “systematic hounding” of the editor and journalists of the opposition YSR Congress Party’s (YSRCP) mouthpiece, Sakshi newspaper.
The Press Club pulled up the Andhra Pradesh police for registering FIRs in which criminal laws were invoked “selectively, and frivolously”, against the editorial staff of the newspaper, including editor Dhanunjaya Reddy. Sakshi Media Group is run by the family of YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. YS Bharathi, Jagan’s wife, is its chairperson.
“We appeal to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, to restrain the state police from going on fishing expeditions for victimising journalists for publishing stories in public interest,” the Press Club said.
In a statement issued on September 15, the Press Club noted that a total of four FIRs have been registered against Sakshi staff in different districts under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Two of these FIRs were related to coverage of a YSRCP leader’s press conference that was also reported by other media outlets, the statement added.
“Two FIRs have been registered at two different police stations for reporting about a press conference that was organised by a leader of an opposition party. Other newspapers and media outlets too reported about the press conference, but only Sakshi seems to have been singled out,” Press Club said.
The FIR contents showed that criminal laws were invoked “selectively” and “frivolously”, the statement said, adding that editorial disputes must be resolved under civil laws and not criminal laws.
The Press Club called the FIRs a “a textbook case study of the state using the coercive power of criminal laws to trample upon press freedom that is guaranteed under Article 19(1)(A) to (G) of the Constitution.”
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has granted interim protection to the journalists named in the FIRs and restrained police from taking any coercive action until the investigations were completed, the statement noted.
“However, these FIRs conform to a wider and disturbing pan-India trend of filing multiple criminal complaints at different police stations, and at times in different states, against journalists on the flimsiest of grounds for publishing news articles that are perceived to cause inconvenience to those in power or in positions of authority. While we believe that the law should be upheld equally for all, it should not be weaponised to selectively prosecute the press,” the Press Club said.
In May 2025, Andhra Pradesh police carried out searches in the house of Sakshi Editor Dhanunjaya Reddy. Dhanunjaya had alleged that the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP government had been targeting Sakshi journalists since coming to power.
Recently on September 1, the Tadepalli police registered an FIR against the editor, bureau chief, and a staff crime reporter of Sakshi, over a news report alleging that police officers in the state had been demanding bribes.
The FIR was registered under sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy),196(1) (promoting enmity between groups),353(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the BNS. The complaint was filed by AP Police Officers’ Association (APPOA) president Janukula Srinivas Rao.
According to the FIR, the article “alleged demand of bribe from the rank of Deputy Superintendents of Police (SPs) to Additional SPs.”
The complaint alleged that the article was “factually incorrect”, “defamatory”, and intended to “demoralise the police department” and “create mistrust” between the police and the public.