YSRCP leader Srihari arrested again

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) General Secretary (Media), Pudi Srihari, has been arrested once again for an allegedly abusive social media post targeting Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Police from Kuppam town arrested him in Bengaluru on Wednesday. He was being brought to Kuppam.

The arrest came a day after the Supreme Court declined to intervene in Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order, suspending the remand rejection order of the trial court.

Srihari, who served as Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) to then Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, had approached the Supreme Court, apprehending arrest after the High Court suspended the remand rejection order given by the trial court in Kuppam.

Srihari was arrested on April 15 in Vijayawada in the case registered against him over making objectionable social media posts with morphed images of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.

He was subsequently shifted to Kuppam, where the case was registered against him and another YSRCP functionary Girish Kumar Reddy.

Srihari was produced before the trial court on April 16. He was released after the court rejected the petition by the police to send him to judicial remand.

Later, the High Court suspended the order of the trial court. The matter was scheduled for further hearing in the High Court on Wednesday. However, apprehending his arrested Srihari approached the Supreme Court which declined to intervene in the High Court order.

Arguing the case on behalf of Srihari, senior counsel S. Niranjan Reddy had stated that the police created false evidence against him. He also submitted to the Supreme Court that the High Court did not consider discrepancies pointed out by them during the hearing.

Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the state government, argued that there is no need for any interim order as the High Court is scheduled to hear the case.

Srihari had denied creating, posting or forwarding the content in question. He said he had worked as a senior journalist for over 25 years and had always functioned within the limits of the law.

He maintained that even as a political leader, he continued to follow the ethics of journalism and respected the law.