A group of 100 law students has written to the Chief Justice of India seeking action against Andhra Pradesh CM Jaganmohan Reddy for his October 6 letter levelling "slanderous and contemptuous" allegations against a senior judge of the Supreme Court and some High Court judges, terming it "a wicked attack on the independence of the judiciary".
They asked the CJI to put in place a proper mechanism so as to deal with "motivated smear campaigns and misuse of social media to compromise the independence of the judiciary and bring the administration of justice into disrepute".
Led by advocate Utsav Bains, the students said such attacks seriously undermined the credibility of the institution in the eyes of the citizens. If ignored, this evil monster would soon become one of the biggest reasons for the wrongful erosion of public faith in the institution of the judiciary, they said.
Reddy is himself is facing prosecution in 31 criminal cases, including 11 corruption cases lodged by the CBI. "This speaks volumes about his motives of making allegations against Justice N V Ramana, who had recently directed the High Courts to form special benches to fast-track criminal cases against MPs and MLAs," they said.
Students from law institutions from across the country said Reddy desired constitutional anarchy and legal chaos in his state for his own benefit.
"An example must be made of him which will act as a deterrent for all politicians to come. So that no politician in power ever thinks of threatening or blackmailing a Supreme Court judge with slander and insinuations so as to pollute the streams of justice," they said.
In a related development, Supreme Court Bar Association on Friday condemned the action of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, saying "such actions by constitutional functionaries are opposed to conventions causing serious inroads impacting the independence of judiciary as enshrined in the Constitution".
(Published 17 October 2020, 13:32 IST)
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