AP judge Eswaraiah admits voice in clip asking about Justice NV Ramana was his

Former Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court V Eswaraiah told the Supreme Court of India that it was indeed him speaking over the WhatsApp call with a suspended District Munsif Magistrate. In the calls, Eswaraiah was seeking information on the allegation against sitting Supreme Court Judge NV Ramana and his daughters in the Amaravati land scam.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court had ordered a probe into the conversation terming the content of the call a serious conspiracy to destabilise the judiciary. However, Eswaraiah pointed out that parts of the conversation were edited out in the recordings that became public, reported Bar and Bench.

In a personal affidavit filed with the Supreme Court through advocate Prashant Bushan, the former judge said that he was "trying to collect more evidence"  over allegations about the involvement of Justice NV Ramana's family members in the Amaravati land scam.

The former judge said in his affidavit, "I recall that conversation with the suspended Magistrate was threefold. First I inquired about his suspension, then I consoled him and thereafter sought information regarding benami transactions in relation to the new capital region in Andhra Pradesh." The call took place over WhatsApp on July 20, 2020, and the judge suspects that an external device was used to record the conversation as calls over WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted.

Eswaraiah in his plea said the conversation with the suspended official was the "subject matter of an enquiry by the cabinet subcommittee". The judge also pointed out that there was an FIR filed with names of former Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas and the two daughters of the sitting Supreme Court judge as accused. The former judge claimed that the Andhra Pradesh High Court was in error for regarding his inquiry into the allegations with the suspended official as a conspiracy and a plot against the judiciary. The judge said the matter was already in public domain and under police scrutiny.

Eswaraiah in his plea said, "...it was legitimate for the petitioner to seek any further information about the misconduct of the Judge from anyone who might be privy to such information. Terming such a conversation to be some sort of a criminal conspiracy to destabilize the judiciary which needs an investigation is totally unwarranted."

The Andhra Pradesh High Court had appointed retired Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran to carry out an inquiry to ascertain the authenticity of the conversation.

Eswaraiah alleged that the audio clip was leaked to news channels with the aim of tarnishing his image. The judge also called upon the Supreme Court to order an enquiry into the leak of the conversation. The Judge had earlier approached the Supreme Cout seeking a  stay on the Andhra Pradesh High Court inquiry.

In October 2020 the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote to the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde levelling allegations against Justice NV Ramana. Jagan had alleged that Justice Ramana has been ‘influencing’ the functioning of the Andhra Pradesh High Court to act in favour of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

In the letter, Jagan referred to the order passed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Justice J K Maheshwari, staying the investigation into the case. The case pertains to allegations of corruption where several persons, including Justice Ramana's daughters, were accused of abusing their official position to buy land in Amaravati, having had prior knowledge of its capital status before it was made public.p

Justice Ramana is next in line to be the CJI after SA Bobde retires in April 2021.