‘Don’t make political comments against govt’

Former minister and senior YSRCP lawmaker Dokka Manikya Varaprasad requested that the judges refrain from making political comments that might not be in the true spirit of the Constitution, as they could be exploited by vested interests to serve their political purpose.

The ruling YSR Congress party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh on Monday found fault with some high court judges making political comments during the hearing of cases filed against the state government and said it would amount to overstepping their terrain.

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Former minister and senior YSRCP lawmaker Dokka Manikya Varaprasad requested that the judges refrain from making political comments that might not be in the true spirit of the Constitution, as they could be exploited by vested interests to serve their political purpose.

Without naming the judges, Varaprasad referred to harsh comments made by them in the recent past.

On Saturday, a high court judge pulled up the state government officials for disconnecting the power supply to a granite factor over a disputed pending bill for ₹43 lakh.

“If the power connection to a granite factory was cut for a pending power bill, who has the power to remove the state government that owes lakhs of crores of rupees to contractors who executed various works for the government?” the judge asked.

On another occasion, the high court also made serious comments against the government for not paying salaries to the employees, pensions to the pensioners and clearing pending dues to the contractors who executed various public works. “By not clearing their dues, the government is forcing them to convert into thieves,” the court said.

The high court also warned the government against the diversion of funds meant for Scheduled Castes’ development to the implementation of other welfare schemes.

“With due respect to the judiciary, the comments made by honourable judges are being used by political adversaries, organisations and a section of the media to serve their political agenda, which is not a fair sign. The courts seem to be overstepping the thin line dividing the powers of three Constitutional bodies,” the YSRCP legislative council member said.

He said making comments laced with political content about the tenure of the YSRCP government and likely changes in one year or one and half years don’t augur well for the judiciary.

Varaprasad recalled that even former president Ram Nath Kovind advised the courts to observe restraint while passing comments, which could be used by political parties and other organisations for their selfish purposes.

“A judge remarking that he could not tell his kin where the capital city of Andhra Pradesh is was reported in a section of media. This sends a wrong signal to the people at a time when the issue is pending before the Supreme Court,” he observed.

The YSRCP leader said the comment on the capital city was made by the judge on a public platform. “Should such comments be part of the judgement, we have the right to go for an appeal, and it is fair. But sheer remarks will be taken undue advantage by vested interests, and such situations would appear to be crossing the boundaries of institutions,” he said.

Varaprasad pointed out that getting a mandate is the job of a political party and not that of the judiciary and separation of powers should be respected. “People move courts as a last resort, and the directions given by the judiciary will be followed by the government while such remarks would create confusion,” he said.

Stating that the state government had the utmost respect for the judiciary, the MLC requested the courts to refrain from making political comments which do not form part of the judgement.