The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to journalist Kommineni Srinivasa Rao, who was arrested on June 9 over a panelist's allegedly derogatory remarks during a talk show on Sakshi TV. .The Bench of Justices PK Mishra and Manmohan noted that Rao himself had not made the statement and his right to speech needs to be protected."Considering that petitioner himself has not made the statement and his journalistic participation in a live TV show needs to be protected and his freedom of speech is also to be protected, petitioner is to be released on bail," the Court ordered..Rao hosts a show called KSR Live Show on Sakshi TV. A panelist on the show had allegedly described Amaravati as a “capital of prostitutes” where “only AIDS patients live". A complaint was filed over the incident stating that the comments had hurt the sentiments of women. It was also alleged that Rao did not object to the statement but was rather seen laughing over it. .Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Rao, today submitted that he had nothing to do with the panelist's remarks. However, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the State, said that Rao was abetting the man who made the statement."He was laughing," Rohatgi said..However, the Court was not convinced with the submission."If someone makes an outrageous statement, we laugh about it. He’s not saying it," the Bench remarked.The Court also pointed to Rao's age, stating that he is a senior journalist aged about 70 years. It then granted him bail.
