CBI Books 16 Persons Over Social Media Posts Targeting Judges Of Supreme Court & AP High Court

The development comes in the backdrop of a direction made by a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, ordering CBI Inquiry into cases registered for defamatory remarks against Judiciary by YSRCP leaders.

[Andhra HC Vs Jagan Govt] HC Orders CBI Inquiry Into Cases Registered For Defamatory Remarks Against Judiciary By YSRCP Leaders

While expressing displeasure over the investigation by the State CID, the High Court had directed the CBI to take over the probe into the alleged derogatory comments made by ruling YSR Congress leaders on social media against some judges and against the Judiciary as an entity.

The central agency on Monday combined 12 cases, being investigated by the State Crime Investigation Department, in view of the similarities in the nature of allegations and the modus operandi.

These cases were registered on the basis of complaints made by the Registrar General of Andhra Pradesh High Court, that the key personnel who are occupying posts of prominence in the State, made interviews/ posts/ speeches, attributing motives, caste and corrupt allegations to judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court in delivering orders/ judgments. It was also alleged that some posts were abusive, life threatening and intimidating.

The 17 accused persons, named below, have now been booked under Sections 153A, 504, 505(2) and 506 of IPC and Section 67 of the IT Act.

(i) Konda Reddy Dhamireddy, (ii) Mani Annapureddy, (iii) Sudheer Pamula, (iv) Adarsh Reddy, (v) Abhishek Reddy, (vi) Siva Reddy, (vii) Sridhar Reddy Avuthu, (viii) Jalagam Venkata Satya Narayana, (ix) G Sridhar Reddy, (x) Linga Reddy, (xi) Chandu Reddy, (xii) Srinath Suswaram, (xiii) Kishore Reddy Darisa, (xiv) Chiranjeevi Reddy, (xv) Linga Reddy Rajasekhar and (xvi) K Gowthami. The seventeenth accused is Unknown.

In related news, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India, alleging that certain judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh were biased towards the main opposition party in the State, the Telugu Desom Party.

The explosive complaint alleged that Justice Ramana has been influencing the sittings of the High Court including the roster of a few judges in matters that are important to the TDP. He 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".

On October 10, Ajeya Kellam IAS, the Principal Advisor to the Andhra CM, convened a press meeting to release the contents of the letter to the media.

Two petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court against Reddy for making "false, vague and scandalized remarks and political allegation openly in the public and media". On Monday, Justice UU Lalit recused himself from hearing those petitions.

When the matter came up on the docket, Justice Lalit said, "I have difficulty, I can't hear this matter. As a lawyer, I have represented parties in this matter in litigations. We will say 'list before a bench of which Lalit, J. is nota part...We will direct the registry to seek appropriate instructions from the Chief Justice of India and list it before the appropriate court at the earliest".