The Supreme Court on Friday accepted the apology tendered by Telangana Chief Minister (CM) Revanth Reddy for his comments on the recent order of the apex court granting bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha [Guntakandla Jagadish Reddy and ors v. State of Telangana and ors].
A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan took note of the apology and closed the proceedings in relation to Reddy's comment.
Nevertheless, it advised all constitutional functionaries to exercise caution and avoid making unnecessary remarks that could create friction between wings of the government.
"Noting apology, we close and do not wish to proceed further in the matter (of Reddy comment). We put in caution that all Constitutional functionaries be it Executive, Legislature or Judiciary perform their constitutional duties within their respective wings. Such unwarranted comments unnecessarily bring about a friction, we only advise that one should be careful enough while making comments about orders of this court, even as fair criticism is welcome," it said.
Reddy had said that Kavitha got bail from Supreme Court because of a tacit understanding between the BRS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"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 said.
The Supreme Court had taken objection to the same on August 29 while hearing a transfer petition filed by four BRS lawmakers seeking the transfer of the trial against Reddy in the 2015 cash-for-votes scam to a court outside Telangana.
The plea was moved claiming that a fair trial against Reddy would not be possible within Telangana given his present status as the State's Chief Minister.
The apex court had in February issued notice in the matter.
When the matter was heard today, the Court observed that there was no need to transfer the case as the petitioners themselves had expressed confidence in the prosecution.
"In the last hearing, in order to allay apprehension, petitioner has suggested new prosecutor. Today they say they have full faith in the prosecution. We are therefore, not inclined to entertain the matter at this stage," the Court said while closing the transfer petition.
The Court further directed Reddy not to interfere with the prosecution of proceedings and ordered that the Director General of Police (DGP) of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) would not report to Reddy regarding the prosecution of the case.
It also clarified that if the petitioners find any interference by Reddy, the prayers in the plea could be revived.
The Court also closed the proceedings against Reddy for his remarks, after taking note of his apology.
Senior Advocates Aryama Sundaram and Dama Seshadri Naidu with advocates J Akshitha, Shaik Sohil Akhtar, Eugene S Philomene, P Mohith Rao and Divya represented the petitioners before the Supreme Court.
Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Sidharth Luthra with advocates Kumar Vaibhaw, Lzafeer Ahmad BF, Ranjeeta Rohatgi, Anmol Kheta, Somaya Gupta, and Shubham Arun appeared for Reddy.
Senior Advocate Dr. Menaka Guruswamy with advocates Sravan Kumar Karanam, Utkarsh Pratap, Shireesh Tyagi, Tayade Pranali Gowardhan, and. Arunima Das appeared for the State of Telangana.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal with advocates Gautam Khazanchi, Vaibhav Dubey, Vipul Kumar, and Sowjhanya Shankaran appeared for respondent Rudra Uday Simha.
Senior Advocate Kavin Gulati with advocates Abhay Pratap Singh, Aaryaan Sadanand, Mitali Umat, Dhaval Mehrotra, Aditi Desai appeared for respondent Sandra Venkata Veeraiah.
[Read live coverage of hearing]