Hyderabad: A three-member committee of the Press Council of India (PCI), constituted to look into Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's alleged threat to the media, will be visiting the state from Tuesday for a public hearing.
The committee comprising Rajeev Ranjan Nag, Krishna Prasad and K Amarnath will visit Hyderabad on Tuesday and Warangal the next day.
The committee will find out whether the Chief Minister made the statement attributed to him that he would break the necks and bury underground media persons and that they should salute the Telangana people if they wish to live in the newly-created state.
They would also see whether the comments violate Article 19(1)(a), (e) and (g) of the Constitution, which guarantee freedom of the press.
The panel will find out whether there is any threat perception to the media in Telangana and its free functioning and what steps were necessary for the protection of the media in Telangana in discharging its duties to the public.
Nag, the convenor of the committee, said the panel would hold a public hearing at The Plaza Hotel near the Chief Minister's Camp Office in Begumpet area of Hyderabad from 3 pm Tuesday.
In a statement released on Monday, he requested senior journalists, editors, representatives of the journalists' organisations or anybody concerned with the issue to attend the hearing and give their evidence or perceptions.
The panel has also sought appointments with the chief secretary, the director general of police and the Telangana Chief Minister to elicit their views on the points of reference made to the committee.
The committee will go to Warangal to gather whether the reported statements attributed to the Chief Minister were true.
