Andhra%20Pradesh%20Chief%20Minister%20YS%20Jagan%20Mohan%20Reddy%u2019s%20missive%20to%20the%20Chief%20Justice%20of%20India%20accusing%20Justice%20NV%20Ramana%2C%20the%20next%20in%20line%20to%20be%20the%20Chief%20Justice%20of%20India%20is%20unprecedented.%20Coming%20as%20it%20days%20just%20six%20months%20before%20the%20appointment%20of%20the%20next%20chief%20of%20the%20apex%20court%2C%20the%20AP%20Chief%20Minister%u2019s%20letter%20has%20raised%20serious%20questions%20about%20not%20just%20the%20contents%20of%20the%20letter%20but%20its%20implications%20on%20the%20appointment%20of%20the%20next%20Chief%20Justice%20of%20India.

Justice%20Ramana%20by%20virtue%20of%20his%20seniority%20was%20likely%20to%20be%20appointed%20as%20the%20next%20CJI%2C%20he%20may%20still%20be%20elevated%20to%20the%20post%2C%20but%20either%20which%20way%20the%20process%20has%20become%20mired%20in%20the%20kind%20of%20controversy%20that%20it%20could%20have%20done%20without.

YS%20Jagan%20Mohan%20Reddy%20has%20accused%20Justice%20Ramana%20of%20not%20just%20%u201Cinfluencing%20the%20sittings%20of%20the%20AP%20high%20Court%22%20but%20of%20proximity%20to%20his%20b%EAte%20noire%20Chandrababu%20Naidu%20the%20TDP%20chief.%20The%20letter%20has%20also%20called%20for%20an%20investigation%20by%20the%20Anti-Corruption%20Bureau%20into%20the%20questionable%20land%20agreements%20allegedly%20entered%20into%20by%20two%20of%20Justice%20Ramana%u2019s%20daughters.

The%20letter%20was%20sent%20on%20October%206%20yet%20neither%20the%20CJI%20nor%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20have%20responded%20so%20far%20to%20the%20allegations%20made%20in%20the%20letter.%20According%20to%20senior%20members%20of%20the%20bar%2C%20the%20CJI%20will%20in%20all%20likelihood%20have%20to%20call%20a%20meeting%20of%20the%20collegium%20to%20discuss%20the%20issue%20and%20he%20may%20then%20decide%20to%20set%20up%20an%20in-house%20committee%20comprising%20some%20of%20the%20senior%20judges%20to%20investigate%20the%20charges.%20Based%20on%20the%20findings%20of%20the%20in-house%20committee%20he%20can%20either%20dismiss%20the%20charges%20or%20recommend%20action%20against%20the%20judge.

This%20is%20not%20the%20first%20time%20that%20issues%20have%20been%20raised%20before%20the%20appointment%20of%20the%20CJI%2C%20however%20it%20is%20perhaps%20the%20first%20time%20that%20a%20Chief%20Minister%20has%20publicly%20levelled%20such%20serious%20charges%20against%20a%20sitting%20judge%20of%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20and%20one%20who%20may%20go%20onto%20head%20the%20Supreme%20Court.%20Like%20almost%20everything%20else%20now%20even%20the%20appointment%20of%20judges%20including%20the%20CJI%20has%20become%20mired%20in%20controversy%20taken%20on%20political%20overtones.

One%20hopes%20that%20the%20CJI%20and%20the%20apex%20court%20will%20do%20the%20right%20thing%20and%20probe%20the%20charges%20against%20Justice%20Ramana%20in%20a%20transparent%20manner.%20The%20Supreme%20Court%20still%20enjoys%20a%20great%20degree%20of%20credibility%20and%20is%20looked%20upon%20as%20the%20last%20bastion%20of%20hope.%20That%20is%20primarily%20because%20people%20still%20believe%20that%20when%20all%20else%20fails%20the%20highest%20court%20in%20the%20land%20will%20dispense%20justice%2C%20without%20fear%20or%20favour.%20The%20apex%20court%20owes%20it%20to%20the%20nation%20and%20itself%20to%20remain%20fiercely%20independent%20and%20like%20Caesar%u2019s%20wife%20to%20remain%20above%20suspicion.

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