Andhra Pradesh

Disturbing trend

A lot of dust is raised by some sections of electronic media with regard to the print media war in which the Telugu daily newspapers are apparently involved. The public is well aware how some newspapers are anti-government and supported the Opposition, while some others are soft on the Congress government. More recently, there are statements and counter-statements, rebuttals and condemnations, with respect to a particular news item or statement appearing in one paper and vice versa.

Some people are of the opinion that this is not a healthy trend, particularly carrying the statements of political leaders that are baseless. After all, the print media is in the private sector mostly and there are times that a particular newspaper is slightly inclined favourably towards some political party, particularly the Opposition.

But of late, some have begun carrying political parties on their shoulders and it doesn’t augur well, says an expert during a chat on Monday. Media bias is nothing new and there was a group in Chennai whose morning newspaper supported the ruling political party and its eveninger, the rival opposition, for a quite sometime. As long as the media, print or electronic, does not misuse the freedom of press, it will continue to play its important role in a democracy.

The citation released at the felicitation of lawyer D.V. Subba Rao on the occasion of putting up 50 years experience in the profession on Sunday read: “Durvasula Venkata Subba Rao was born on April 24, 1932 with a legal spoon in his mouth as both his grandfather Diwan Bahadur Sri Rama Sastry and father Somayajulu were lawyers of repute.”

Commenting on the citation, Justice V.V.S. Rao, Judge, AP High Court, said Mr. Subba Rao had Mahalakshmi, Bhagyalakshmi, Santanalakshmi and Dhanalakshmi because his wife ‘Sarvalakshmi’ Subba Rao’s name represented all Lakshmis. His comment sent the jam-packed VUDA children’s theatre into peels of laughter.

Fifty years at the Bar is a landmark in an advocate’s career. D.V. Subba Rao has achieved it. Mr. Subba Rao is not just an advocate. He has been a successful Mayor of Visakhapatnam, Chairman of VUDA, Chairman of Bar Council of India (he is the first advocate to be elected to this prestigious post from a district Bar association and was also re-elected for a second term), headed the Andhra Cricket Association and has to his credit some important achievements during his tenure like the construction of the modern ACA-VDCA stadium in the city. A two-day function was organised by his well-wishers to mark Mr. Subba Rao’s golden jubilee in the profession and Supreme Court Judges Satyabrata Sinha and B. Sudershan Reddy along with High Court Judges G. Raghuram and V.V.S. Rao and others graced the occasion.

The seminar on role, responsibility and importance of trial lawyers in the administration of justice, held to mark the golden jubilee of D.V. Subba Rao at the Bar, saw Supreme Court Judge Satyabrata Sinha making some interesting observations.

Justice Mr. Sinha recalled the concern expressed by many over the sacking of Chief Justice of Pakistan and the threat to democracy in that nation. One observer, said the Supreme Court Judge, replied to a question put to him on why democracy survives in India only and always faces a threat in its neighbouring countries saying that it is due to elections held fairly and regularly and apolitical army and an independent judiciary!

Justice Mr. Sinha wanted advocates to play a more responsible role towards society.

The Supreme Court advocate also saw a great future for legal tourism in India in the globalisation era. The Indian Supreme Court was regarded as the strongest court in the world but India was not a good legal tourism centre, he said.

(Prabhakkar Sharma, Santosh Patnaik and

G. Narasimha Rao)

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