TRS MLAs 'poaching' case: HC extends stay on notice to BJP leader Santhosh till Dec 13
Hyderabad, Dec 5: The Telangana High Court on Monday stayed a notice issued under section 41A of CrPC by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing into the alleged attempt to poach TRS MLAs, to BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh till December 13.
The court had on November 25 stayed the notice till December 5.
Justice K Surender extended the stay till December 13.
SIT had earlier issued notices to Santhosh and others to appear before it for questioning on November 21. But, they did not. So, based on the court direction, the SIT again issued notice to Santhosh to appear before it either on November 26 or 28.
Santhosh and three others were named as accused by the SIT in the case.
Based on the investigations so far, the SIT filed a memo in a Special Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court here adding the names of Santhosh and two persons from Kerala--Jaggu Swami and Tushar Vellapally -- besides an advocate B Srinivas as accused in the case.
Three people -- Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy -- were already named as accused in the case after a complaint was lodged by TRS MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy, among four legislators, against them on October 26.
As per the FIR copy, Rohith Reddy alleged that the accused offered him Rs 100 crore and in return the legislator has to leave the TRS and contest as a BJP candidate in the next Assembly election.
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
