Justice P. Venkata Jyothirmai of the Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) directed the registrar (judicial) to refer former CM N. Chandrababu Naidu’s bail petition in the skill development scam case to Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur for posting it before an appropriate Bench on October 30.
The judge recused from the hearing on the grounds that her conscience did not permit her to say or do anything about the matter connected to advocate G.V.L. Murthy, who sought to appear (for Mr. Naidu) along with his colleague G. Basaveswara Rao, happened to be the husband of a judicial officer.
Justice Jyothirmai told senior advocate Siddharth Luthra that she understood the urgency (Mr. Naidu’s health condition) of the bail plea but was bound by limitations of the vacation court she was heading.
However, she said that her observation does not preclude the petitioner from seeking the remedies available as per the governing rules by approaching the registrar judicial for listing the petition at the earliest instead of October 30 as requested by Mr. Luthra.
The HC is on a three-day Dasara vacation from October 25. Justice Jyothirmai is the vacation judge instructed to deal with bail petitions.
During the last hearing on October 19, Justice K. Suresh Reddy had ordered Mr. Naidu’s bail petition to be posted before a vacation Bench. It is pertinent to mention that Mr. Naidu on extended judicial remand in the Rajamahendravaram central jail till November 1.
