VIJAYAWADA: The state government on Thursday made it clear that it has no objection to a CBI probe into social media posts against High Court judges “if the court doesn’t jump to any adverse conclusion against the State government or the CID in this case”.
Appearing on behalf of the government, Advocate General S Sriram and CID’s advocate Niranjan Reddy concluded their arguments on a petition filed by the HC Registrar General claiming the CID hasn’t taken any steps on complaints over derogatory posts against judges on social media platforms. After hearing both sides, a division bench comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and Justice J Uma Devi reserved its orders.
The bench also allowed a related petition filed by retired police officer Sivananda Reddy and directed him to present evidence submitted in his plea to the probe agency to be announced by the court. During the hearing, the bench cited remarks allegedly made by Speaker Tammineni Sitharam, Deputy Chief Minister Narayana Swamy, MPs Vijayasai Reddy, N Suresh and former MLA Amanchi Krishnamohan among others. It observed that their comments were against democratic norms and could be construed as an attack on the judiciary. It sought to know why no case had been filed against them by the CID and pointed out that cases were filed with alacrity when comments were made against the government.
The bench further remarked that the CID’s apathy prompts one to doubt if it was being done to protect the accused. During the arguments, the bench also sought to know if the Speaker commented against the judiciary in or outside the Assembly. When informed that he made the comments in Tirumala, the bench opined that it looked like a war had been declared against the judiciary.
The Advocate General took strong objection to the comments of the bench and said it was inappropriate for the judiciary to say that someone was trying to close down the court. “There is no place for such comments in our judicial or constitutional process. There is no scope for comments such as ‘what if it is the Speaker?’ and ‘How could a person who is abusing us be made a minister’,” he said.