The CJ recommended the name of retired high court judge AV Sesha Sai within 24 hours after the Naidu government sent a file to him on need for appointments.
Published Dec 22, 2024 | 3:09 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 22, 2024 | 3:21 PM
Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice recommended Justice (retired) AV Sesha Sai as the state Lokayukta. (1)
Three people-centric institutions remain headless in Andhra Pradesh even six months after the NDA government led by N Chandrababu Naidu came into being.
The three are Lokayukta, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and the State Consumer Forum.
Interestingly, matters moved officially in regard to Lokayukta but the State Government has not acted on the recommendation of the High Court, though a month has lapsed since it was given.
Sources said the state government, following the convention, has sent a file to Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice (CJ) Dhiraj Singh Thakur seeking the recommendation of an appropriate name for the appointment of the Lokayukta.
The usual practice is that the government unofficially intimates its choice to the CJ through proper channels and the latter goes by it. In this case, however, the government has not done so.
Instead, the Chief Justice recommended the name of retired high court judge AV Sesha Sai within 24 hours after the file was sent to him. Justice Sesha Sai, who retired in May this year, had even served as acting Chief Justice of the same high court for some months in 2023.
Justice Thakur, who is said to have consulted brother judges, zeroed in on Sesha Sai following the common view that he was unfairly denied promotion as chief justice of a high court before he was to demit the office.
The Chief Justice and the others felt that appointing him as Lokayukta would, therefore, at least partly undo the injustice.
According to information flowing from corridors of power, the government did not expect the Chief Justice to act on the file so swiftly.
However, it is unknown whether the government is keeping the file pending since it was considering someone else.
From his side, the Chief Justice felt that he should not waste time, as there was no suggestion from the government and the post had been vacant for several months. He quickly returned the file with his note. Sesha Sai was also said to have been spoken to before his name was recommended.
It would be a rare event if the government sent the file back to the Chief Justice for reconsideration because the latter exercised his judgement after due consideration in the absence of any opinion from the executive.
Interestingly, Sesha Sai, who had a good track record as a judge, belongs to the same community as Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. That makes it tricky for Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to deny the recommendation.
While the file on Lokayukta is pending for reasons unknown, the government has, so far, not taken up the task of filling the other two positions – SHRC and the State Consumer Forum.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
