Retired Andhra Pradesh HC judge moves SC against enquiry into secretly recorded conversation

The retired judge said the enquiry was illegal as it was being conducted without the High Court's notice to him

Former judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court, Justice V Eswaraiah has approached the Supreme Court seeking stay on an order of August 13 by the High Court which directed an enquiry into conversation between him and a suspended district munsif magistrate.

The HC had said the contents of the conversation disclosed a “serious conspiracy” against the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh, and a senior sitting judge of the Supreme Court to "destabilise the judiciary".

"Alleging in a private conversation that there is corruption in the highest judiciary or alleging that a certain judge may be involved in act of corruption, does not amount to a plot or a conspiracy to malign the reputation of the highest judiciary," the petitioner claimed.

In a special leave petition filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, the 69-year-old retired judge and chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission contended that the HC "erred" in ordering the enquiry into secretly recorded conversation in an unverified pen-drive to conclude a plot was hatched against judges.

"The petitioner has openly exposed various improper acts of the sitting judge of the Supreme Court in various press conferences in the past, which he considered against judicial propriety and a misuse of power, such as his close proximity to the former Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu," his plea claimed.

"This impropriety has also been raised by other former judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and is a well known fact. Therefore this cannot in any manner amount to a secret undisclosed conspiracy, warranting any enquiry," it added.

The petition also said any concerned citizen can bonafide procure material and make a complaint, if that material discloses a misconduct.

Therefore, the conversation even if taken at face value, cannot be construed as a conspiracy, it said.

The petitioner claimed the HC's order was "unwarranted" since his conversation was a "perfect legitimate" and "bona fide view" about the senior Supreme Court judge, which he has spoken from time to time in statements and press conferences.

The retired judge also said the enquiry was illegal too as it was being conducted without the High Court's notice to him and causing undue harassment to him.

Notably, the Andhra Pradesh government had earlier ordered an FIR against prominent people, including two daughters of the SC judge, in Amravati land transfer scam, which was earlier stayed by the High Court. The AP government's appeal against the HC's order is pending consideration before the top court.