The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday put up a strong argument against admission of a public interest litigation petition by the state high court on the alleged telephone tapping of some judges based on a report published in Andhra Jyothy Telugu daily and telecast by ABN Andhra Jyothy.
Additional Advocate General Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy and government pleader Sumon, arguing on behalf of state government in the high court, asserted that in a public interest litigation petition, source of information is absolutely important for it to be maintainable.
“In the present PIL, the petitioner's source of information is not reliable and seems like a childish act,” the government’s counsels brought to the notice of the high court.
The AAG said the newspaper article had given an impression as if a judge of the high court had spoken to the media house about the telephone tapping.
“We do not believe that an honourable judge of high court would have spoken to a media house about their phone being tapped. So, this makes the article reported contemptuous,” he said.
Sudhakar Reddy told the high court that the state government had issued a defamation notice to the newspaper and was also taking steps to initiate further legal action.
He urged that the high court made the media house a party as it had to come out with evidences and answer as to where it had got the information from and how it had carried the article as if a judge has spoken to them.
The petitioner’s advocate stated that he had reliable information that a senior IPS officer has been designated to track judges and that he will file an affidavit naming the officer.
The high court issued notices to the state government, central government and even service providers to explain whether there was tapping of telephones in the state and if so, the details thereof. The court adjourned the matter to Thursday.