Lawyer writes to AG seeking his consent to initiate contempt against Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy

NEW DELHI: An advocate Sunday wrote to Attorney General KK Venugopal seeking his consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his press advisor for making allegations against a Supreme Court judge.

BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay said the letter by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister 'scandalises' the authority of both the Supreme Court and the High Court and interferes with the judicial proceedings and the administration of justice.

"Even worse, if this kind of precedent were allowed, political leaders would start making reckless allegations against judges who do not decide cases in their favour and this trend would soon spell the death knell of an independent judiciary," Upadhyay wrote in his letter.

"I am therefore seeking your kind consent under Section 15(1)(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 read with Rule 3 of the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court, 1975 to initiate criminal contempt against YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Shri Ajeya Kallam, Press Advisor of the Government of Andhra Pradesh," he said.

According to Upadhyay's letter, the actions of these two individuals constitute grave criminal contempt of the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.

It has been two weeks since the release of Reddy's letter in the public domain, and as yet, there has been no suo-motu contempt action initiated by the Supreme Court, the advocate said in his letter.

In an unprecedented move, the chief minister wrote to the CJI, alleging that the Andhra Pradesh High Court was being used to "destabilise and topple my democratically elected government."

He had 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".

The chief minister had alleged that the senior apex court judge had proximity to TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and that a "former judge of the honourable Supreme Court placed this fact on record".