SC judge recuses himself from hearing pleas against Jagan

Hyderabad: Supreme Court judge U.U Lalit, on 16 November, recused himself from hearing pleas seeking action against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy for levelling allegations against the judiciary.

Justice Lalit said, "I have difficulties. As a lawyer, I had represented one of the parties. I will pass an order for it to be listed before a Bench without me."

A Bench comprising justices Lalit, Vineet Saran, and S. Ravindra Bhat was to hear three petitions against Jagan. The pleas alleged that Jagan not only wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A Bobde levelling allegations against the judiciary in Andhra Pradesh but also held a press conference in which false statements were made.

In an unprecedented move, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister had, on 6 October, written to the CJI alleging that the Andhra Pradesh High Court was being used to "destabilise and topple my democratically-elected government".

The three separate petitions were filed by advocates G.S Mani, Sunil Kumar Singh, and the Anti-Corruption Council of India Trust.