Did a miffed Andhra Pradesh government cancel the National Press Day event that was proposed to be held in Vijayawada on 16 November because the Press Council of India took suo moto note of the Government order that advocated defamation cases to be slapped on media houses for wrong reportage?
No. On the contrary, the Andhra Pradesh government had backed out much before the media-related GO was even issued. Filter Kaapi accessed the letters written by the government and the PCI and this was the sequence of dates.
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After it was decided to take the 2019 edition out of its regular venue of Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi, on 3 July, the PCI wrote to the Andhra Pradesh Information Commissioner informing him that it had been decided to hold it in Amaravati / Vijayawada. The letter written Anupama Bhatnagar, PCI Secretary sought the cooperation of the state government in organising the event. The chief guest for the event is Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.
But on 18 September, the government declined the offer saying the government and the chief minister are too busy with other programmes to be able to devote attention to this event.
“It may be appropriate to consider an alternative venue other than in AP for holding National Press Day 2019,” the letter said.
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The GO about the media was issued more than a month later in October and the PCI took suo moto note on 1 November.
On 8 November, the Editors Guild also issued a note, condemning the order about the media.