Supreme Court Stays Justice Rakesh Kumar’s Controversial Order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the judgment of Justice Rakesh Kumar, who was retired, in the Mission Build Andhra Pradesh case. The apex court issued orders imposing a stay on the remarks made by a division of bench of AP high court comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and Justice D Ramesh against the YSRCP government led by chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. We are aware that Justice Rakesh’s harsh remarks have sparked outrage across the state.

A Supreme Court bench comprising chief justice S A Bobde and justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian stayed the order of Justice Rakesh Kumar after hearing submissions by Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya, appearing for Andhra Pradesh government.

Justice Rakesh’s verdict was handed down on December 30 and he retired on December 31. The state government has stated in its appeal that the President can intervene under Article 356 on constitutional failure but not the courts. Prosecutors for the state government told the Supreme Court during the hearing that the High Court order was not substantiated.

The apex court, which examined the background of the case, clarified that the stay was imposed on the orders issued by the High Court on October 1. The court had earlier expressed serious concern that the High Court orders were alarming. The bench commented that it was not clear what factors influenced those judges to think that the constitutional systems in the state had collapsed.