Conflicting and confusing reports are coming out on the position taken by Attorney General of India KK Venugopal on AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s controversial letter to the Chief Justice of India. Latest reports indicate that the Attorney General has made it clear that he has no authority to either grant or decline approval for contempt proceedings against Jagan Reddy. That is a matter concerning the court and the AP CM.

At the same time, the AG clarified that the Supreme Court can take up the contempt proceedings suo motu if it wants to. There would be no objection from any quarter. He has already said that the contents of the Jagan letter were contumacious and amounted to contempt of the court. Making these clarifications, the Attorney General told Supreme Court lawyer and BJP leader Aswini Kumar Upadhyaya that if anybody felt there was a necessity for issuing contempt proceedings against Jagan Reddy, he or she may approach the court with a plea for the same. It is up to the court to accept or deny it. However, it should not be forgotten that the highly objectionable contents of the letter were already before the CJI.

Different interpretations were coming out on the AG stand. Now, the Attorney General has clarified in real terms that his approval is not required to initiate the contempt proceedings against the Chief Minister of a State.

Way back on October 6, Jaganmohan Reddy wrote the letter to the CJI. It was released by AP Government Advisor Ajay Kallam Reddy at a press conference. The AG clarified that the CM did not mention the letter as a ‘confidential matter’. So, there was no issue in making it public. The only objection was about the contents of the letter as the CM made allegations against the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.