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Judge suspended in Telangana on corruption charges, fourth in a month
Kolla Ranga Rao assumed charge in a special court on Wednesday morning, but within half an hour, he received orders from the state high court, stating that he was suspended on charges of corruption.
The Hyderabad high court on Wednesday suspended a senior judge in Telangana’s Mahbubnagar district on corruption charges, making him the fourth judge to be suspended in a month in the state.
Kolla Ranga Rao, who was working as additional judge in the Vikarabad district court, had been transferred as judge of a special court dealing with SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act in Mahbubnagar a couple of days ago.
He assumed charge in the special court on Wednesday morning, but within half an hour, he received orders from the state high court, stating that he was suspended on charges of corruption.
A faxed copy of his suspension order was handed over to him by the local court in Mahbubnagar. As a result, Rao stepped down from his new post without hearing even a single case.
The suspension of Rao comes following an inquiry conducted by the high court acting on a petition submitted by a 36-member delegation of advocates belonging to Vikarabad Bar Association on April 13.
“There have been several allegations of corruption and favouritism against the judge. He used to sit on judgment orders for months, though he was supposed to deliver the same within a specified period. He also had political leanings and used to stay in the house of a local politician, which is against rules,” a bar association member said on condition of anonymity.
Rao is the fourth judge to be suspended in Telangana on charges of corruption in the last one month. Last Tuesday, the high court suspended metropolitan sessions court judge in Hyderabad, S Radhakrishna Murthy, following raids by the Anti-Corruption Bureau on his house. He was charged with taking a bribe of ₹7.5 lakh to grant bail to an accused in a narcotics case, and was subsequently arrested.
On March 18, the high court suspended M Gandhi, a judge in a local labour court, following ACB raids on his house and detected a huge amount of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. He was later arrested.
On April 6, the high court suspended junior civil judge S Madhu in Jagitial district following a complaint from the local bar association that he was taking bribes to deliver biased verdicts. Madhu was also arrested later.
There were complaints of corruption even against justice K Ravinder Reddy, the judge of the NIA special court in Hyderabad, who resigned within hours of delivering a verdict in the sensational Mecca Masjid blast case on Tuesday. A complaint against him is still pending with the high court.
