In an interesting twist to the case related to challenging the Kadapa district court order, which bans Sharmila and others from speaking about the Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy murder case, a high court judge recused himself from hearing the petitions.
Justice A.V. Sesha Sai, along with Justice N. Vijay, was scheduled to hear separate petitions filed by Viveka’s daughter Dr. Sunitha Narreddy and TDP candidate from Pulivendula assembly segment, B. Tech Ravi, on Wednesday. These petitions challenged the Kadapa court order.
However, as soon as the matter was brought before the bench, Justice Sesha Sai recused himself from hearing the petitions, citing personal reasons. It appears that Justice Sesha Sai had previously passed judgments unfavorable to the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
The bench then directed the registry to refer the petition to the Chief Justice for allocation to an appropriate bench.
Dr. Sunitha and B. Tech Ravi filed separate petitions challenging the injunction order issued by the Kadapa district court. This order prohibits discussion of the Vivekananda Reddy murder case and any other case currently pending before the courts.
The petitioners argued that the court's orders were arbitrary and exceeded its jurisdiction. They claimed that the Kadapa district court's orders violate the principles of natural justice as they were issued without even hearing the respondents in the petition.
Given that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in effect, Dr. Sunitha argued that any concerns about comments potentially impacting the elections should be addressed to the Election Commission.
She criticized the decision to file a suit in court without first approaching the appropriate forum, the Election Commission.