Amaravati: Creating shock waves in political and legal circles, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has alleged that a senior Supreme Court judge has been influencing the sittings of Andhra Pradesh High Court and acting in the interests of Telugu Desam Party.
The Chandrababu Naidu-led party dismissed the CM’s charges as ‘atrocious’ and a conspiracy against the judiciary.
In letter to the Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde, the Chief Minister alleged that the Andhra Pradesh High Court was being used to “destabilise and topple my democratically elected government.”
Reddy requested the CJI to look into the matter and consider initiating steps as may be considered fit and proper to ensure that the state judiciary’s neutrality is maintained.
Reddy alleged that the senior apex court judge had proximity to Chandrababu Naidu and that a “former judge of the honourable Supreme Court placed this fact on record.”
After his government initiated an inquiry into the actions of Naidu regime between 2014-19, he said, “it is now clear that the judge started influencing the course of administration of justice in the state…”
Naming some High Court judges, Reddy alleged they had a “nexus with the Supreme Court judge and the Telugu Desam Party and displayed animosity towards my government and me.”
The apex court judges influence was in the areas of “roster for sitting of the honourable Judges, whereby important matters of policy and protection for Chandrababu Naidu’s interests were posted before a few honourable judges,” the Chief Minister alleged and referred to some orders to buttress his claims.
The Telugu Desam Party rejected the allegation as a “deliberate conspiracy against the judiciary and nothing could be more atrocious than this”. The state unit of the Congress termed it a frontal attack on the judiciary.