Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal on Monday declined his consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Prinicipal Advisor Ajeya Kallam.
Mr. Venugopal, however, said the Chief Minister’s letter to the Chief Justice of India containing allegations against Supreme Court judge, Justice N.V. Ramana, and the subsequent public release of the document can “certainly said to be suspect”.
Mr. Venugopal said Mr. Reddy’s letter on October 6 and its release by Mr. Kallam at a press conference held on October 10 was ‘suspect’ because they came “in the background of the order passed by Justice Ramana dated September 16, directing pending prosecutions of elected representatives to be taken up and disposed of expeditiously”.
In this context, the Attorney-General referred to Mr. Upadhyay’s statement that Mr. Reddy had 31 criminal cases against him.
“In this background, prima facie, the conduct of the said persons is contumacious,” Mr. Venugopal said.
He said he found the letter to contain “objectionable statements”.
“I have carefully gone through the contents of your petition. I find that the objectionable statements have been made in a letter dated October 6 written by the Chief Minister to the Chief Justice of India...” Mr. Venugopal noted.
The Attorney-General was responding to a petition filed by Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay for his prior consent under the Contempt of Court Act to initiate proceedings against Mr. Reddy and Mr. Kallam.
The top law officer said Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde was already “seized of the matter”. Mr. Venugopal said the letter was sent to the CJI directly and, therefore, the latter was “well aware of the nature of the allegations contained in the letter”.
“Hence it would not be appropriate for me to deal with the matter,” Mr. Venugopal wrote.