E-Paper
Andhra HC orders CBI to act against YSR leaders, others who attacked judges on social media
A division bench of the High Court observed that since the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the state police had failed to take appropriate action against those who had made derogatory comments against the judiciary, it was entrusting the case to the CBI for an impartial inquiry.
Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday ordered a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the abusive posts on social media and alleged derogatory statements made by some YSR Congress party leaders against the state judiciary.
A division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and Justice J Uma Devi, observed that since the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the state police had failed to take appropriate action against those who had made derogatory comments against the judiciary, it was entrusting the case to the CBI for an impartial inquiry.
The bench directed the CBI to take up the investigation, initiate the proceedings against the accused and submit the report to the High Court within eight weeks. It asked the state government to extend all cooperation to the CBI in investigating the case.
Also read: Top Bollywood producers file suit against ‘irresponsible reporting’
On October 8, the High Court concluded the arguments on a petition filed by the registrar general stating that the CID had not taken any steps on complaints over derogatory posts against judges on social media platforms.
According to senior High Court advocate Lakshmi Narayana, the court had observed that the CID had filed FIR only on a few social media activists, though more than 90 people had been found to have made abusive comments against the judiciary for delivering judgements against the state government.
“The CID also failed to ensure deletion of abusive comments on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It also did not initiate any action against the YSRC leaders who made comments against the judiciary,” he said.
During the hearing, the HC bench found fault with the alleged remarks made by assembly speaker Tammineni Sitharam, deputy chief minister Narayana Swamy, MPs Vijayasai Reddy and N Suresh and former MLA Amanchi Krishnamohan, among others against the judiciary. It observed that they amounted to direct attack on the judiciary.
It also observed that the CID was booking cases against people who criticise the government on social media while not acting on the specific complaint by the HC.
Advocate general Sriram and CID counsel Niranjan Reddy said they had no objection if the court orders a CBI probe without making findings on the CID.
