Telangana HC suspends judge who ordered FIR against CEC Kumar over minister's poll affidavit
Hyderabad, Aug 23: The Telangana High Court has placed under suspension a special sessions judge in connection with a "direction" given by him to police for registering an FIR against Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and several others, saying the judge acted in "undue haste".
Official sources in Hyderabad and people aware of the development in Delhi said the suspension was initiated on the administrative side against K Jaya Kumar, the judge of special sessions court for trial of MPs/MLAs, after a complaint was lodged with the high court by a senior official of the Election Commission.
Based on a private complaint filed under Section 200 of the CrPC by Raghavendra Raju, the judicial officer "acted in undue haste" without conducting any preliminary enquiry and without recording the statement of the complainant, the high court said.
Thus, there was a serious lapse in the procedure followed by the officer while discharging his duties, the sources said citing the order issued by the high court on the administrative side.
The FIR was registered on August 11 against Telangana Excise Minister V Srinivas Goud, CEC Kumar and a host of other officials after being referred by the sessions court for allegedly "tampering" Goud's 2018 state assembly election affidavit.
The matter was referred to police by the sessions court on a private complaint which alleged that Goud, MLA from Mahabubnagar, had "tampered" with the election affidavit by suppressing facts.
While Goud was named as the first accused, CEC Kumar and several other officials were made co-accused, who the complainant alleged had colluded with the minister and closed the election affidavit without taking any further action.
The judicial officer was placed under suspension by the high court in exercise of the Telangana Civil Services Rules, 1991 "in larger public interest", the sources said citing the order.
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Compromised PM didn't sign trade deal with US, but a bargain for Adani's release: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of signing a trade deal with the US only to secure the "release" of billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.
"Compromised PM did not strike a trade deal, but a bargain for Adani's release," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X, after reports that the US has agreed to settle the lawsuit that accused Adani of hiding alleged bribery.
The US government has agreed to settle the lawsuit filed against Adani, who is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company's huge solar energy project in India was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme, according to court filings published Thursday.
Reacting to the reports, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it was now clear why the PM agreed to the "hopelessly one-sided Indo-US trade deal that was really a steal by the US".
"And it is also clear why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor on May 10, 2025, acting on President Trump's threats rather than on our national interest. Reportedly, the Trump Administration is about to drop all charges of corruption against Modani," he said on X.
"How much more compromised can the PM get?" Ramesh asked.
In the lawsuit filed in late 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, who is a director at the group's renewable energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd, of agreeing to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials between approximately 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts on terms that expected to yield USD 2 billion of profit over 20 years.
It was alleged in the lawsuit that Adani Group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate had denied the allegations.
