Supreme Court judge Justice SV Bhatti on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a plea filed by Telugu Desam Party supremo and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu against his arrest by the CID in connection with the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam case.
“My brother (Justice Bhatti) has some reservations about hearing the matter,” said a Division Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna without disclosing any specific reason.
The Bench did not agree to list the matter for hearing on Monday and said that it could only list the matter for hearing from October 3 onwards.
It did not give any specific date in the matter after the court was informed that the matter would be mentioned again before CJI DY Chandrachud seeking urgent listing.
Meanwhile, senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief, went to the courtroom of the CJI to mention the plea for urgent hearing by a different Bench.
The matter was listed today for hearing before a Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SV Bhatti as per the supplementary cause list published on the website of the apex court late on September 26.
Earlier on September 25, a Bench headed by the CJI did not accede to the out-of-turn mentioning made on Naidu’s behalf but asked senior advocate Luthra to mention the matter afresh on Tuesday for directions seeking urgent listing.
Naidu has approached the Supreme Court by filing a Special Leave Petition after a single Bench of Justice S Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on September 22 dismissed his petition to quash the FIR registered against him and to set aside his judicial remand.