New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its strong displeasure at comments made by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over the grant of bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha in excise policy cases.
Reddy talked about a deal between BJP, BRS for securing bail for Kavitha
Reddy, in a media interaction on Tuesday, talked about a deal between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and BRS for securing bail for Kavitha.
According to news agency PTI, Reddy said that there are doubts about how Kavitha secured bail in the excise policy case within five months, when former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister got bail after 15 months in jail and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is waiting to get the relief.
“It is a fact that BRS worked for the victory of the BJP in the 2024 LS polls. There is also talk that Kavitha got bail because of the deal between BRS and BJP,” Reddy had alleged.
“Do we pass orders after consultations with political parties?” a bench comprising Justice BR Gavai, Justice PK Mishra and Justice KV Viswanathan asked Reddy’s counsel while hearing a plea seeking transfer of the trial of the 2015 cash-for-vote case from Telangana to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Reddy is also an accused in the case.
What sort of statement is this by a responsible chief minister, apex court asked
The apex court bench, while hearing a plea for transfer of the trial of the 2015 cash-for-vote case from Telangana to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was appearing for Reddy, “Have you read in the newspaper what he said? Just read what he has stated. What sort of statement is this by a responsible chief minister. That might rightly create apprehension in the minds of people. Is this a kind of statement which should be made by a chief minister? A constitutional functionary is speaking in this manner.”
We do our duty as per conscience and oath: Apex court bench while expressing its strong displeasure with Reddy’s statement
The bench further said that it is a fundamental duty of political parties to show respect to institutions and asked, “Why should they drag court in political rivalry? Do we pass orders after consultations with political parties? We are not bothered by politicians or if anybody criticises our orders. We do our duty as per conscience and oath.”
The bench further said, “We always say we will not interfere in the legislature, then that is expected from them also. Do we pass orders on political considerations?”
“See the manner of the statement you (Reddy) made. Such statements by a chief minister!” the top court bench told Rohatgi.
Rohatgi apologised on behalf of Reddy and said, “Let me make amends and keep the matter on Monday.”
The bench posted the matter for Monday.
Apex court on Tuesday granted bail to Kavitha in excise policy cases
A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan on Tuesday granted bail to Kavitha in corruption and money laundering cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy on Tuesday.
The bench, while granting bail to Kavitha, noted that her custody in the cases was no longer required as the investigating agencies have completed their probe against her in both cases and that there was no likelihood of the trial in the cases being concluded in the near future, as 493 witnesses were to be examined and 50,000 pages of documents were to be considered in both the cases.
The top court, while granting bail to Kavitha, reiterated that the prolonged incarceration before being pronounced guilty of an offence should not be permitted to become punishment without trial and that the well-established principle that “bail is the rule and refusal is an exception.”