K Chandrasekhar Rao takes up High Court split issue after PM Modi praise
Hyderabad: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi complimenting Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in the Lok Sabha on Friday for showing maturity in resolving bifurcation-related issues with Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister has stepped up efforts to resolve the contentious division of the High Court between Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh.
On Sunday Mr Rao made a sudden visit to the residence of High Court Chief Justice T.H.B. Radhakrishnan to discuss the issue.
Mr Rao followed this up with a meeting with Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan.
Though the CM’s Office described his visit as a “courtesy call”, sources revealed that the CM is learnt to have promised all support from the state government for the smooth bifurcation of the High Court at the earliest.
Mr Rao also requested Governor Narasimhan to pursue the issue seriously with AP CM N.Chandrababu Naidu and the Centre. He brought to the Governor’s notice the hardships faced by TS advocates due to the delay in the bifurcation of the High Court.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti MPs also raised this issue in the Lok Sabha on Friday during the debate on the no-trust motion.
TRS deputy floor leader B.Vinod Kumar accused the Andhra Pradesh government of deliberately blocking the division of the High Court and not cooperating with the Centre or the Telangana government on the issue.
Mr Vinod Kumar said when AP could build its own Secretariat and Assembly buildings in the new capital Amaravathi within a short span, why was it not constructing a High Court building?
“This shows their ill-motive (sic). They deliberately want to delay the division of the High Court. The present High Court is serving both the states. Majority of the judges in the present High Court are not from the Telangana region. Though I don’t want to attribute this to anything, I request the Centre and AP government to cooperate for early division of the High Court,” Mr Kumar said.
Mr Rao wants the Union Cabinet to approve the bifurcation and refer it to the President of India for approval.
The President has to issue a circular notifying the principal seats of the new High Court and the appointment of judges.
During his meeting with the Governor, Mr Rao invited him to participate in the Haritha Haram programme and other events.
