MPs press for separate High Courts, special status

Hyderabad: While agreeing to the need for separate HCs for two states as per the AP Reorganisation Act, Union parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said that there were, however, some legal tangles, like a case pending in the High Court regarding division, causing more delay.

This was immediately countered by TRS member Vinod Kumar who said that the Centre could not cite such reasons for the delay as it had been sitting on the subject for the last 14 months.

At this stage, Mr Naidu said everyone would agree that advocates of Telangana needed to be selected as judges for the Telangana HC and the demand was justified. “It should have been done along with bifurcation of the state long back, but we will do it,” he said.

In another issue raised by YSRC MPs, the Union home minister and the parliamentary affairs minister assured the Lok Sabha that according special category status to AP was still under active consideration by the Centre.

Admitting for the first time that granting special status to AP, despite a negative recommendation by the 14th Finance Commission, was a “critical issue”, Mr Naidu said the demand was still under the Union finance ministry’s consideration.

YSRC members, led by Mr Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, rushed to the podium raising slogans on the issue even before question hour was taken up.

The members continued their protests at the podium, disturbing the question hour.  While rejecting the adjournment motion, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan gave them an opportunity to raise the issue in Zero Hour.

Mr Rajamohan Reddy said the assurance given by the then PM Dr Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha according special status to AP had not yet been implemented by the 14-month-old NDA government, which has been dodging the issue citing unconvincing reasons.

At this, home minister Rajnath Singh said the Centre was committed to implement all the aspects related to the AP Reorganisation Act in true letter and spirit.