Special NIA judge Ravindra Reddy delivered the Mecca Masjid blast case verdict. (Image courtesy: ANI)
NIA court Judge K Ravinder Reddy, who resigned hours after he acquitted all the accused in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, was back on duty on Thursday after the High Court rejected his resignation. Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan not only declined Reddy’s resignation but also cancelled the 15-day leave the judge had sought. Ranganathan asked Reddy to report to work immediately.
Reddy, the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, had put in his papers on April 16 soon after he delivered the verdict in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case in which he acquitted all the accused, including Swami Assemanand. In a letter to the metropolitan sessions judge and the chief justice of the high court, Reddy said he was resigning owing to personal reasons.
In the wake of the Mecca Masjid bomb blast verdict, security was beefed up for the judge. “…there is no specific alert, but following the verdict, security has been stepped up around his house since yesterday itself,” a senior police official told PTI.
Meanwhile, Reddy is also under scrutiny by the HC’s Vigilance Department after a complaint was filed by a litigant in a land dispute case alleging that he showed “undue haste” in granting anticipatory bail to an accused in the case. Wanting a “thorough inquiry to know the corrupt practices” of the judge, the complaint Krishna Reddy claimed that the judge went against “settled practice” by granting relief to the accused whose five previous attempts at obtaining anticipatory bail from various courts had failed.filed by a litigant.
The complaint stated that “generally the procedure adopted… is to hear the case and post for orders next day”. But the judge chose to pass the orders on the same day, the complaint stated. When contacted by The Indian Express, High Court Registrar C Manavendranath Roy said he could not disclose any information without the permission of the Chief Justice. Judge Reddy’s official residence was found locked and calls to him went unanswered.