The previous Jaganmohan Reddy government has flouted all the rules regarding the issuance of advertisements to newspapers. This was done only on the directions of the then Chief Minister’s Office only, who violated even the Supreme Court guidelines and looted hundreds of crores of rupees for his tabloid newspaper ‘Sakshi’.
Interestingly, this confessment was submitted by Vijayakumar Reddy, the Information Commissioner who worked during his tenure and known for his proximity with the previous regime. He reported the same to the High Court.
The Supreme Court had issued specific guidelines regarding the issuance of government advertisements in the case of ‘Common Cause vs. Union of India’. It clearly stated that the government’s decision in this regard should not benefit some media houses.
It said that equal opportunities should be given to all newspapers in the issuance of advertisements based on circulation. Vijayakumar Reddy, who flouted these rules and issued government advertisements to whoever he liked, tried to mislead the state High Court by distorting the Supreme Court guidelines.
While on the one hand, he said that he had increased the advertisement tariff for Jagan’s newspaper and paid hundreds of crores, and on the other hand, he had acted in accordance with the law regarding the issuance of advertisements. He stated this in an affidavit filed in June this year.
He said that in accordance with the CMO’s orders, government advertisements were given at the empaneled rate only to the first two newspapers with the highest circulation in the state. They gave advertisements worth hundreds of crores to Sakthi, which is more than the newspaper with the highest circulation.
According to the information recently disclosed by the coalition government in the assembly, the value of advertisements released to Jagan’s newspaper by the Information Department was Rs. 371.12 crore. However, it was not said how many advertisements were given to that newspaper at the district level.
