On August 29, 2024, the Supreme Court of India through Justice B R Gavai, Justice Prashant Kumar and Justice K V Viswanathan asserted the independence of all three organs of government. It remarked that all organs of the government, namely, legislature, executive and judiciary are separate bodies and have an independent existence. The court emphasised by enumerating that the legislature and executive should refrain from commenting and interfering regarding the functions of judiciary, as has been followed by the judiciary in the past. The court stressed the importance of mutual respect and the need for not encroaching into the other organ’s domain.
The remarks were made during a hearing concerning the transfer of a trial against the Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The court’s aforesaid response came to the contemptuous comments made by the CM wherein he stated that “there is also a talk that Kavitha got bail because of the deal between BRS and BJP”. The court warned the CM about how it issued a notice to the additional chief secretary of Maharashtra for his contemptuous and derogatory remarks, merely a day before.
Justice Gavai strongly condemned Reddy’s statement, addressing his counsels, namely, Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi by questioning, “Do we pass our orders in consultation with a political party?”
The issue for consideration involved the prayer for transfer of trial against Reddy from Telangana to another state, given his position as sitting CM could potentially affect the impartiality and the outcome of the trial, if continued in Telangana. The Apex Court has postponed the matter for further consideration on September 2.
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