A Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, comprising Justices Rakesh Kumar and J. Uma Devi, on Monday dismissed the Interim Application (IA) filed by the State government for recalling an earlier order in which the court wished to proceed with the question on whether there was a breakdown of constitutional machinery in the State.
Making his submission, Advocate-General S. Sriram said he would file an SLP in the Supreme Court as the High Court refused to accommodate his views on the matter, to which the judge replied that he was at liberty to do so.
During the course of the hearing on a batch of writ petitions (WPs), which initially revolved around the alleged unlawful arrest of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Visakhapatnam in February 2020 just before he embarked on his Praja Chaitanya Yatra against the YSRCP government, the special senior counsel for Home Department, S.S. Prasad, raised an objection saying that there was no necessity for them to be placed before the court, having regard to the framework of the WP filed by a former TDP MLA and because there had been no amendment to its cause.
Mr. Sriram’s plea at this juncture to be given an opportunity to place the facts before the court, and a request by him to record the same, was turned down by Mr. Justice Rakesh Kumar, who observed that it was a part of the State’s efforts to delay further proceedings.
When the Advocate-General sought to make a submission that his response to a query raised by the court itself was not being heard, Mr. Justice Rakesh Kumar said such a conduct was not expected of him.
While insisting that he had the right to be heard, Mr. Sriram replied that he would prefer a SLP in the Supreme Court, and that he was loath to join a debate on his conduct and that of the judge.
He asked for two weeks time to file a counter as the court chose to lay down the parameters on which it desired to proceed with the question of breakdown of constitutional machinery, but was directed to revert with his views on December 16 while exercising his option to approach the apex court.
