Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 18 (IANS): The Congress-led UDF government will never put pressure on the media or intimidate journalists, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said on Friday, asserting that the action against Reporter TV Managing Director, Anto Augustine, was not connected with the channel’s work.
“The media is free to do its job and we are very clear about it. The UDF government will never ever put pressure on the media through intimidation,” Chennithala told reporters.
His remarks came a day after Augustine was arrested by the Excise Department in an Abkari case and as the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court at Sultan Bathery rejected his bail plea on Friday.
Chennithala said the government had taken note of several instances involving journalists during the previous decade under the Pinarayi Vijayan government.
He alleged that many journalists had faced pressure in connection with their news coverage during that period.
“Many journalists during the previous one decade came under duress with regard to news. What happened with Reporter TV was nothing to do with news,” he said.
According to Chennithala, the police and investigating agencies had the necessary documents and legal authority when they entered the Reporter TV office as part of the investigation.
“The police had all the papers according to law when they entered the office of Reporter TV,” he said.
Augustine was arrested hours after a Special Investigation Team probing alleged financial irregularities surrounding the proposed visit of football star Lionel Messi and the Argentina team to Kerala, conducted searches at the Reporter Broadcasting Company office and premises linked to Augustine and his brothers in Kochi and Wayanad.
The Excise Department subsequently arrested him in connection with the seizure of liquor from his ancestral house at Vazhavatta in Wayanad.
The Bathery court had on Thursday remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days before rejecting his bail plea on Friday.
The government has maintained that the Excise case and the SIT investigation into the proposed Messi event are separate.
Chennithala said the SIT headed by ADGP P. Vijayan was constituted on the basis of a report submitted by the Sports Secretary and handed over to him by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan.
“The SIT is doing its job according to law. It has acted only in accordance with the prevailing laws. The Home Minister does not intervene,” he said.
