Parcel received by CJ’s office becomes point of discussion

A parcel received by the office of Chief Justice of Telangana High Court Ujjal Bhuyan became a point of serious discussion albeit for a few minutes during the hearing of a writ appeal filed by BJP over the attempt to poach TRS MLAs before a bench headed by the CJ on Tuesday.

As Supreme Court senior counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for Telangana State, was presenting his contentions before the bench, the CJ sought his opinion about ‘certain materials’ received by his office. The parcel comprised materials like pen-drive and CD apparently pertaining to the case of attempt to poach TRS MLAs.

Mr. Dave expressed his sincere regret, observing that ‘it ought not to have been done’. CJ Ujjal Bhuyan said that he came to know about Chief Justice of another HC also receiving similar material. When the CJ asked senior counsel what should be done with the parcel, the latter replied that it should be thrown out or destroyed.

But what if it landed in the hands of others, the CJ said. Meanwhile, senior counsel Vaidyanathan Chitambaram, appearing for BJP, submitting his opinions said that his client had information that even the President of India got such material.

Mr. Vaidyanathan said such action cannot be taken lightly, noting that it was an attempt to influence the court. He said the bench must initiate contempt proceedings against persons who had sent such material to CJ’s office. The issue of how the material pertaining to the poaching attempt case went from the hands of the investigating officers to others should be inquired into, Mr. Vaidyanathan said.

The bench of CJ Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy, however, did not record in detail all the points relating to the parcel in their order issued after hearing contentions of both the counsels. Pronouncing the order, the bench recorded that Mr. Dave conveyed regret over the parcel issue.