AG Venugopal recuses himself from request for contempt proceedings against Justice Katju

Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal, on Tuesday, recused himself from granting permission to initiate contempt proceedings against former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju in connection with his alleged contemptuous remarks against the judiciary in Nirav Modi Extradition case.

Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava had filed the petition and wrote a letter to Venugopal to grant his permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Katju.

In response to the letter, the AG said that he has known Katju for over sixteen years and thus, it may not be appropriate for him to take any action in this matter.

"I have known Justice Katju for the last about 16 years and we have been interacting with each other ever since", Venugopal said.

He, however, advised the lawyer, Srivastava, to request the Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta for his consent to initiate contempt against Katju, for his alleged remarks against the judiciary in the Nirav Modi case.

Last month, after a UK court ordered fugitive diamond dealer Nirav Modi's extradition to India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said that the government would liaise with the UK authorities for his early extradition to India."Now since the Magistrates' Court has recommended Nirav Modi's extradition to the UK Home Secretary, the government of India would liaise with UK authorities for his early extradition to India," said the MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

( With inputs from ANI )