Supreme Court justice UU Lalit on Monday, 16 November recused himself from hearing pleas seeking to initiate proceedings of criminal contempt against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy for levelling allegations against a judge of the top court, Bar and Bench reported.
“As a lawyer, I had represented these parties in litigation. I cannot take up this matter. Let this matter be listed at the earliest before any other judge decided by the CJI.”Justice Lalit
The plea was heard by the bench comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Ravindra Bhat.
The court was hearing three separate petitions by Advocates Sunil Kumar Singh, GS Mani, and Anti-Corruption Council of India Trust seeking inquiry and action against the chief minister for his ‘scandalising’ remarks against the second senior-most judge of the top court.
Letter by CM Jagan Reddy
On 6 October, Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Reddy wrote to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, alleging a “nexus” between one of the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, former CM Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, and judges of the AP High Court.
In the letter that was presented in a press conference, Reddy alleged bias in the state judiciary towards the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Reddy has asked the CJI to look into the issue, and initiate any steps required “to ensure that the State judiciary’s neutrality is maintained.”
AG Declines Contempt Proceedings
Earlier, BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay had urged the AG to grant permission to initiate contempt proceedings against Reddy and his principal advisor Ajeya Kallam but Attorney General KK Venugopal, for the second time on 7 November, declined to give consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Jagan Mohan Reddy.
(With inputs from Scroll, Bar and Bench)
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