New Delhi: Telangana’s ruling TRS on Monday demanded immediate bifurcation of the Andhra Pradesh High Court as per the provisions in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, contending that lawyers from the new Telangana state are not being able to “fulfill their responsibilities” as the existing court is overwhelmed with people from Seemandhra.
Raising the issue in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, TRS floor leader B. Jitender Reddy said with the formation of a separate state of Telangana, two separate High Courts — one for Telangana and another for Andhra Pradesh — should be in place as was done in the case of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
“We are pleading for this constitutional right. Our Chief Minister has written to the Prime Minister and to the Law Minister on this issue. He also spoke with the Law Minister but no action has been taken. Why is there a denial of justice to the State of Telangana?” he asked.
The issue assumes significance in the wake of lawyers from Telangana region going on a strike demanding the immediate bifurcation of the existing Andhra Pradesh.
The TRS MP raised the issue and some even went into the well of the House demanding early action from the Centre.
Andhra Pradesh High Court is located in Hyderabad and according to the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 the High Court would be bifurcated and both states will have their own high courts. However, the AP High Court still continues to cater to both states.
“Out of the 36 judges who are there in the High Court now, 28 are from Seemandhra region and only eight are from Telangana region. The High Court is vertically divided and the Telangana advocates have refused to take cases and are on strike for the last two months. Thousands of advocates are being lifted by the police and are being taken to jail. The judicial system there has come to a standstill today,” Mr Reddy said.
The TRS leader said advocates were at the forefront of the Telangana agitation and most of them had participated in the movement to achieve statehood.
“Their cases are not being taken up today. They are being deprived of their right to fulfil their responsibilities. No cases of Telangana region are now going to High Court. When asked, they are being challenged," Mr Reddy said.
In this context, the TRS demanded that as per the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, the High Court be bifurcated into a Telangana High Court and a Seemandhra High Court.
“Hyderabad has already got its own High Court. Seemandhra should be given a special place. They may go to Guntur, they may go to Kurnool, they may go to Vizag, whichever place they like. We just require an immediate bifurcation of the High Court. It should take place on urgent basis before things go out of hands," the TRS MP said.
