SC puts off order on Andhra judge’s chat as crucial phone goes missing

A view of the Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. File (Source: The Hindu)

In a curious turn of events, the Supreme Court postponed the pronouncement of its judgment at the last minute on Friday in an appeal filed by a former Andhra High Court judge, Justice V. Eswaraiah, after suspicions were raised that a “concerted effort” was afoot to wipe clean crucial evidence.

The case concerns a WhatsApp call between the former HC judge and a suspended judicial officer, Ramakrishna. The call allegedly contained several damaging remarks about the Andhra HC and Supreme Court judiciary.

Also read: Former HC judge files affidavit in phone conversation case

The High Court had ordered a judicial inquiry by former Supreme Court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, into the phone chat. Consequently, Justice Eswaraiah moved the apex court in appeal. He said the chat was private and Ramakrishna had recorded it without his knowledge and presented the recording before the HC in an unrelated case. A Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan was scheduled to pronounce its judgment on Justice Eswaraiah’s plea to quash the enquiry into the chat.

Events however took an unexpected twist when senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Vipin Nair informed the court that Ramakrishna had been arrested. Further, his phone was reported “missing” from the police station.

Also read: Ex-judge’s WhatsApp chat: SC reserves orders

“It appears the phone was stolen while the Supreme Court was seized of the matter (J. Eswaraiah’s appeal). However, the fact was only brought out after the judgment was reserved in the present case. It is submitted that this is a grave issue and the Supreme Court must take cognizance... It appears there is a concerted effort to eradicate evidence which is crucial to the present case.

Mr. Sibal, appearing for an intervenor, M. Bhagya Rao, said there was “an underlying conspiracy to destroy crucial evidence… it is imperative that an impartial investigative agency takes over the investigation”.

The Supreme Court finally decided to defer the pronouncement of the judgment and consider the case again after the court re-opens post the Holi break.