SC judge UU Lalit recuses himself from hearing of pleas against Jagan Mohan Reddy over letter to CJI

New Delhi: Supreme Court judge UU Lalit on Monday recused himself from hearing pleas seeking action against Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for levelling allegations against the judiciary.

“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,” Justice Lalit said. A bench comprising justices Lalit, Vineet Saran and S Ravindra Bhat was to hear three petitions seeking various reliefs against Reddy.

The pleas alleged that Reddy not only wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde levelling allegations against the judiciary but also held a press conference in which false statements were made.

In an unprecedented move, the 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 Anti-Corruption Council of India Trust.