The face-off, since last week, between the Telangana Assembly and a section of the Seemandhra media which has apparently not reconciled itself to the birth of the new state has raised vital legal issues. The new Assembly passed a resolution on June 14, authorising speaker Madhusudanachary to take stern action against the news channel TV9. The Speaker referred the issue to a special committee (in the absence of a Privileges Committee). If the Assembly were to imprison or reprimand media persons, as some have demanded, for the derogatory and contemptuous reporting of the swearing-in of its MLAs by the Seemandhra owned TV9, the new state’s legislative history would begin with a confrontation between a constitutional Estate and the Fourth Estate. ...

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