Goa assembly Speaker Pratapsing Rane Wednesday reprimanded the media for "misreporting" assembly proceedings and warned that he would complain to the Press Council of India (PCI) if "erroneous reporting" was repeated.
Rane said this after Congress legislator Agnelo Fernandes moved a privilege motion claiming that a regional vernacular daily and a national daily had misreported his assembly speech.
"I said that 'if this goes on, this government will not be called a government of aam aadmi, but will be called a government of pimps and peddlers'. The papers have stated that 'this is a government of pimps and peddlers'. This is not what I said," Fernandes remarked.
Rane warned the media against behaving like 'narad munis', the Hindu mythical sage who playfully causes quarrels amongst gods, goddesses and people.
"I warn the press, don't try to be 'narad munis'. Don't try to bring misunderstandings between members of the house. I could have called the person here and punished," Rane said, directing the concerned media publications to publish an apology prominently.
Rane also reminded the media that press freedom came with a rider of responsibility.