Attorney General for India K K Venugopal on Monday refused to give consent for initiation of criminal contempt against YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and his principal advisor Ajeya Kellam for making public allegations against Supreme Court judge Justice N V Ramana.
In his reply to the letter written by senior Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the Attorney General said Chief Justice of India S A Bobde was seized of the matter and therefore, it would not be appropriate for him to deal with the mater.
“For these reasons, I decline consent to initiate proceedings for criminal contempt of the Supreme Court of India,” Venugopal said.
However, Advocate General expressed view that the conduct of the chief minister and his advisor in writing a letter to the Chief Justice of India and keeping the letter in public domain was "prima facie contumacious."
“The Chief Justice of India is well aware of the nature of the allegations contained in the said letter,” he said.
Venugopal expressed view that the timing of the letter as well as its being placed in the public domain through a press conference could certainly be said to be suspect, in the background of the order passed by Justice Ramana directing pending prosecutions of elected representatives to be taken up and disposed of expeditiously.
He also acknowledged that there are as many as 31 criminal cases pending against the chief minister.
“However, what has to be noted is that the entire case of contempt arises out of the letter written by the chief minister directly to the CJI and the subsequent press conference held by Ajeya Kallam. The issue is seized of the matter by the CJI,” he said.