TS Advocates Meet Union Law Minister And Demand Separate High Court

The demand for a separate High Court for Telangana state is now echoing the Delhi durbar.

Telangana advocates, along with TRS and BJP leaders from Telangana, met Union law minister Ravi Shanker Prasad in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum urging the Centre to take immediate steps to establish separate High Courts for Telangana Andhra Pradesh. Senior BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya, TRS MP B. Vinod Kumar, along with the advocates met the Union law minister.

The advocates, who have launched a stir, expressed anguish over the abnormal delay in setting up of new High Courts, which would not only ease work in either state but create more employment opportunities and also ensure promotions for judicial officers. While promises made to AP in the Reorganisation Act are being fulfilled, even simple demands from Telangana are ignored, complained the advocates during their stir in past few weeks.

“Though the state has been bifurcated three months ago, the Andhra Pradesh government has failed to identity a location for their High Court. The AP CM should spell out the location and inform the Centre, which he has not done so far leading to delay,” TRS MP Vinod Kumar said. He urged the Union law minister to take immediate steps for two new High Courts for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by invoking Article 214.

“According to Section 31 of the AP Reorganisation Act there is a provision for establishment of separate High Courts for both states. The Centre should take the initiative and establish two High Courts soon and should decide, whether it will introduce a bill or Supreme Court will take the initiative,” Mr Vinod Kumar said.

Earlier, there were reports that the law ministry has written to the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh high court for creation of separate high courts for the new states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and also increased the strength of the two proposed high courts to 61 judges. The current sanctioned strength of the AP high court is 49 with at least 15 vacancies. But later AP showed disinterest in the matter dragging the issue.  Today, while the Judges in the High Court are 36 in number, from Seemandhra, there are 28 and only 8 people from Telangana. The Registrar General is also from Seemandhra. Almost 80 per cent of the staff in the High Court are from the region of Seemandhra. That explains AP’s disinterest!