During the hearing of a petition filed by the High Court in-charge registrar, the Andhra Pradesh High Court expressed displeasure over the Crime Investigation Department (CID) failing to act on the cases of negative social media posts about the High Court judges.
Condemning the social media posts targeting the judiciary, a Bench of Justice Rakesh Kumar and J Uma Devi said that the court would look into the possibility of a larger conspiracy behind such posts against the judiciary in the state, reported the New Indian Express.
The court said that the attempts to lower the dignity of the judiciary which is one of the three pillars of democracy and thus projecting it as redundant might lead to internal strife. It added that the court will not be a mute spectator to the social media posts destroying the reputation of the judiciary. The court, without mincing words, went on to say that the people who do not have faith in the judiciary can go on to Parliament and seek the abolishment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Giving a warning, the court said that it would be compelled to use its powers under the Constitution if there was no rule of law in the State. The court said that if it did not take the matter seriously, individuals might take law into their hands. The High Court requested social media platforms not to allow such posts. Senior Advocates Harish Salve, Sajan Poovayya and others representing social media platforms promised their cooperation in protecting the dignity of the courts.
The court made the above-mentioned remarks after an MP Vijayasai Reddy of the YSRC party made certain questionable remarks against the Andhra Pradesh judiciary. YSRCP leaders have been launching verbal attacks openly against the High Court in recent times. YSRCP MP Vijaysai Reddy had stated in Rajya Sabha, “The AP judiciary is not impartial and it has to be stopped. It is unfortunate that courts are hindering the investigation into scams. As lawmakers, we have the right to raise the issue in Parliament and speak about the functioning of the judiciary in AP”.
The YSRCP leaders have been criticising the HC after its request for a CBI probe into the ‘Amaravati scam’ was rejected by the High Court.
