SC stays Andhra Pradesh HC's gag order on media reporting about Amaravati 'land scam'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday stayed the Andhra Pradesh High Court direction restraining the media from publishing news regarding an FIR lodged on alleged irregularities in land transactions in Amaravati. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that the high court shall not decide till January last week the pending matter which relates to the alleged illegal land transactions in shifting of the state capital to Amaravati. The bench, also comprising Justices RS Reddy and MR Shah, refused to stay at this stage the other directions of the high court including the stay on probe into the FIR in the matter. The apex court passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by Andhra Pradesh government against the 15 September order of high court. The top court, which did not issue notice to chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on the appeal, sought responses from others including the Director General of Police of Andhra Pradesh and the state’s former advocate general on whose plea the high court had passed the order. The bench has posted the matter for hearing in January.