THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH & ANR versus VARLA RAMAIAH ETC.

Citation: [2023] 4 S.C.R. 1118 · Decided: 03-05-2023 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: M.R. SHAH · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2023] 4 S.C.R.
[2023] 4 S.C.R. 1118
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THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH & ANR.
v.
VARLA RAMAIAH ETC.
(Civil Appeal Nos. 8540-8541 of 2022)
MAY 03, 2023
[M. R. SHAH AND M. M. SUNDRESH, JJ.]
Government orders: Misinterpretation of – High Court stayed
all the further proceedings pursuant to the GO’s – Correctness of –
On facts, by virtue of G.O., the State Government appointed a
Cabinet Sub-Committee to examine the allegations of corruption
against members of the erstwhile Government – Resolution to hand
over investigation to CBI/CID/Lokayukta – By virtue of the second
G.O., the State set up the SIT to undertake an investigation of these
allegations – Subsequently based upon the letter of SIT, the State
Government requested the Central Government to refer the matter
to the CBI – Writ petitions challenging the GO’s – Applications by
the State for the impleadment of the Union of India and the
Enforcement Directorate, rejected by the High Court – Thereafter,
byway of interim order, the High Court stayed all the further
proceedings pursuant to the GOs – On appeal, held: High Court
misinterpreted the G.Os – G.Os cannot be said to be overturning the
earlier decisions taken by the previous Government and/or to review
the decisions taken by the previous Government – Sub-Committee
and the SIT have been constituted to inquire into the allegations of
acts of corruption and misfeasance of the previous Government –
High Court did not consider that the appellant had made a request
to the Central Government to refer the matter to the CBI followed
by the consent given – High Court ought not to have granted an
interim stay – Matter is at a premature nascent stage – Also the
Union of India is a proper and necessary party to be arrayed as a
respondent in the writ petitions – High Court to dispose of the writ
petitions within the stipulated period – Stay – Interim order.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos. 8540-
8541 of 2022.
From the Judgment and Order dated 16.09.2020 of the High Court
of Andhra Pradesh at Amravati in IA No. 1 of 2020 in WP Nos. 6562
and 6711 of 2020.
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S. Niranjan Reddy, Sr. Adv., Mahfooz A. Nazki, Polanki Gowtham,
Shaik Mohamad Haneef, T. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, K. V. Girish
Chowdary, Ms. Rajeswari Mukherjee, Ms. Niti Richhariya, Sahil Raveen,
Ms. Mukti Singh, Advs. for the Appellants.
Siddharth Dave, Sr. Adv., Ms. Prerna Singh, Guntur Prabhakar,
Guntur Pramod Kumar, Sughosh Subramanyam, Agnish Aditya, Advs.
for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
M. R. SHAH, J.
1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned interim
order passed by the High Court for the State of Andhra Pradesh at
Amravati in I.A. No.1/2020 in Writ Petition No.6562 of 2020 and Writ
Petition No.6711 of 2020 by which while admitting the writ petitions the
High Court has stayed all further proceedings pursuant to the G.O. Rt.
No.1411 dated 26.06.2019 and G.O. Rt. No.344 dated 21.02.2020, the
State of Andhra Pradesh has preferred the present appeals.
2. The facts leading to the present appeals in nutshell are as under:
2.1 By virtue of G.O. issued on 26.06.2019, the State Government
appointed a Cabinet Sub-Committee to examine the allegations of
corruption against members of the erstwhile Government. On 27.12.2019,
the Cabinet Sub-Committee submitted an interim report recording a prima
facie finding about certain allegations. During the meeting held on
27.12.2019, the Sub-Committee also resolved to consider handing over
the investigation to the CBI/CID/Lokayukta. On the basis of the report,
vide the second G.O. dated 21.02.2020, the State set up the SIT to
undertake an investigation of these allegations. The said decision was
ratified by the Cabinet during its meeting held on 04.03.2020. The head
of the SIT thereafter wrote to the Government on 21.03.2020 that the
matter had wide-spread ramifications and therefore was required to be
handed over to a Central Agency such as the CBI. Accordingly, vide
letter dated 23.03.2020 the State Government requested the Central
Government to refer the matter to the CBI. On 13.07.2020, the State
expressly gave its consent to the exercise of powers by the Delhi Police
Establishment within the State of Andhra Pradesh, such that the CBI
may conduct such an investigation in respect of the scam involving Andhra
Pradesh State Fibre Net Ltd.
THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH & ANR. v. VARLA
RAMAIAH ETC.
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SUPREME
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