Minister Nara Lokesh attended Visakhapatnam’s 12th Additional District Court on Thursday for cross-examination in the defamation case filed by him against Sakthi media for giving fake news about him and the court adjourned the next hearing to October 18.
After the court hearing, Lokesh said that during the first six months of YCP government in the state only, they published a false news story against him in the Visakha edition. It reported that he had spent Rs. 25 lakhs on tea and coffee at Visakha airport as minister in the previous TDP government. A Delhi-based weekly magazine also published a false article.
So, he sent legal notices to both of them along with evidence. It was clearly stated that out of the 26 days when the bills were generated, he was in Visakha for only one day. The weekly published his version also against its false story and sought for forgiveness.
But Sakshi, owned by former chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s family, did not agree. So, Lokesh filed a defamation suit against the newspaper for Rs. 75 lakhs.
Lokesh asserted that TDP is not new to power and its leader Chandrababu Naidu repeatedly says not to misuse public money. “I came to Visakha court at my own expense. In the past, even when I was a minister, I used my own vehicles. I also paid for water and tea”, he said.
“Now after becoming a minister, today I also came in my own vehicle. I am also paying the cost of diesel from my pocket. I also spent my own money on the flight. I have never taken a cup of coffee or even a bottle of water from the government. Those are the values my parents taught me”, he added.
On Wednesday night too before attending the court case, he said he had slept in his own bus at the Visakha Party office. Unlike Jaganmohan Reddy, he said they are now used to five star hotel culture. He deplored that Sakshi mentioned his name six times in that story titled `Chinna Babu Chiru Thindi’. He advised them to do research before publishing such new stories.