Naveen S Garewal
Tribune news service
Hyderabad, October 11
The Andhra Pradesh government complained to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Sunday about the intervention and influence of the acting Supreme Court judge, Justice NV Ramana, in the state High Court proceedings for the benefit of a political party and people.
He has requested the consideration of the Court of Apex to ensure that the state judiciary maintains neutrality.
Senior Advisor to Chief Minister Ajaya Kallam, addressing the media here on Saturday, released a letter written by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to the CJI, categorically stating that the government had material evidence to show that Judge NV Ramana had been influencing the process of the State Supreme Court, which had recently issued orders to suspend the processes of the Cabinet subcommittee and the SIT and to suspend the investigation and the gag order in an FIR filed against the former attorney general Dammalapati Srinivas and two daughters of Justice NV Ramana and others.
The names were removed pursuant to Superior Court orders in a writ petition.
The case concerns the purchase of land largely adjoining the capital region proposed by senior officials and their associates with prior knowledge and has come to be known as the Amaravati land scam. The land transactions took place during the tenure of Chandrababu Naidu.
The state has presented material evidence before the CJI, the instances that evidence the proximity of judge NV Ramana with N Chandrababu Naidu and his interventions to protect the interests of the TDP. Also mentioned were the cases of judicial impropriety of Judge NV Ramana, while serving as a High Court judge, when issuing orders in favor of Dammalapati Srinivas.
The Chief Minister, in his letter dated October 6, 2020, has expressed his enormous respect towards the Judiciary, the High Court and the Supreme Court and the letter is only to sensitize the Supreme Court about the actions of some individual judges and He reiterated his strict compliance by the government with the Judiciary, the Constitution and all the institutions.
The eight-page letter written by the Chief Minister mentioned the material that he has attached in the annex to demonstrate that “Judge NV Ramana has been influencing the High Court, including the list of some honorable judges and examples of how it is important to the TDP have been assigned a few honorable judges to establish the link between Judge NV Ramana, TDP and some High Court judges. The latter, being the orders approved by the Chief Justice, Maheshwari, in a judicial petition filed by Dammalapati Srinivas, cannot lead to any other inference. This is the order to suspend an investigation in the FIR brought against D Srinivas, including the order of silence of the press, against which an SLP is preferred. The day after the gag order, a provisional order was approved suspending the additional procedures, despite the SLP ”.
“The beneficiaries of both orders of the High Court are politicians belonging to the TDP, of which Judge NV Ramana was legal advisor and Additional General Counsel in the past advising the government led by the TDP and his closeness to Chandrababu Naidu is well known. This is reflected in the nature of the approved orders that maintain the investigation, investigation and rest in the admission stage itself, ”the letter reads.
The Chief Minister in his letter declared that he had true faith and loyalty to the Constitution, under which the three Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches should function. “To avoid power in any of the three powers, the Constitution has designed a scheme for the distribution of power both horizontally and vertically. The control of the members of the judiciary is their conscience and their adherence to established principles and jurisprudence, ”he said in the letter.
During the 2014-19 period, former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his clique have accumulated wealth through the misuse of power, forcing our government to conduct an investigation based on numerous complaints. has pointed to the illegal transactions of approximately 4,000 acres of land.
In the course of the investigation, it came to light that two daughters of Judge NV Ramana and some of his associates and close family members are beneficiaries of the questionable transactions that took place between the date of Chandrababu Naidu’s swearing-in as Chief Minister and his announcement. of the Capital region. The transactions were routed through D Srinivas, who at the time was the state’s Additional General Counsel.
In the annex, the Chief Minister delivered a detailed report on the numerous petitions and PILs presented by the TDP or its supporters against the decisions and bills approved by the government and the Court, with the names of the judges, protecting their interests – Amaravati Land scam, Suspension of the eviction or demolition process, a criminal petition in Ramesh Hospitals, State Elections Commissioner that seeks to annul the FIR against the Navayuga Under Secretary of Engineering, order that challenges the conclusions of the Cabinet and SIT subcommittee, allegations of wiretapping of Honorable judges, PIL related to the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu in Vizag, among others.
The state has called on the CJI to investigate the matter and consider initiating steps to ensure that the neutrality of the state judiciary is maintained.
