A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition was filed in Supreme Court on Monday seeking to prevent elevation of Justice N V Ramana as the next Chief Justice of India in the wake of a criminal case filed against his family members in the alleged Amaravati land scam.
The PIL was filed by Borugadda Anil Kumar, a social activist and working president of the Republican Party of India, Andhra Pradesh unit.
In the past, he had taken up the case of former Tirumala head priest A V Ramana Deekshitulu, when the latter was forced to retire from the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams during Chandrababu Naidu regime.
The petition was yet to be admitted by the Supreme Court and listed for hearing, but it has already started creating sensation in the social media.
Anil Kumar requested that till Justice Ramana was cleared of all the charges of corruption against him in the FIR filed by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau, he should be kept out of the Supreme Court collegium and that he should not be considered for elevation as the next CJI.
He also wanted that the Supreme Court issue a writ of prohibition and a writ of quo warranto against Justice Ramana, thereby prohibiting him from discharging his judicial functions till he was cleared of the cases.
He also demanded that the SC withdraw all judicial powers vested in Ramana till the pendency of the present petition.
Anil Kumar expressed surprise over the way the CJI did not take action on the letter written by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy expressing his grievances against Ramana.
“The CJI miserably failed to follow the aforesaid 'In House procedure' and as a consequence, the public at large is losing its faith in this most religious, sacrosanct apex institution known for its impartial, unbiased and sacrosanct delivery of justice (sic),” the petitioner said.
