Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram has landed in legal soup for his comments on the judiciary.
A Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha activist filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court stating that Tammineni Sitaram’s recent comments that the judiciary was interfering in the policy decisions of the state government will undermine the courts and lower the dignity of the judges.
Reacting to a series of recent pronouncements by the High Court against the state government’s policy decisions, Sitaram commented that where was the need for the people to elect MLAs and MPs if the courts can decide what the state government should do. “What is the purpose of elections. It appears that the judges want to run the affairs of the government. Can the state be ruled from court halls. If that is the case, is there a need to elect a chief minister, MLAs or MPs,” he questioned.
The petitioner contended that it was unbecoming on the part of the Speaker to make such comments. He argued that the Speaker, of late, has lowered the dignity and the high standards of ethics and impartiality attached to his office with his recent comments.
Tammineni Sitaram comments come in the wake of a series of judgements by the High Court in the recent past against the Jagan government. The state government had to swallow a bitter pill in various cases including reinstatement of Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar as SEC, removal of party colours on government buildings and panchayat offices, scrapping of a GO to implement English medium in government schools, CBI probe into the assault on Dalit doctor Sudhakar Rao and the reinstatement of former state intelligence chief AB Venkateshwar Rao who was suspended by the AP government.
Earlier, the Speaker, a constitutional authority, without exercising restraint slammed at the election commissioner, another constitutional authority, in the most undesirable words. “Nee Abba Jagir aa,” he had fumed at the election commissioner after Ramesh Kumar put off civic body polls. He further stated that people will thrash the election commissioner if he steps out on the streets, while stating that Ramesh Kumar’s decision to postpone the elections was undemocratic. “What does he think of himself? Probably, Ramesh Kumar thinks he is the chief minister of this state. The constitutional body is being managed by some individuals,” he lashed out. On the election commission’s decision to put off the elections in view of the coronavirus scare, he said, “It was not due to coronavirus. It is Kammona virus.”
