Telangana CM, Bandaru ask Governor ESL Narasimhan to help end impasse

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Union labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya separately met Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday and requested him to take immediate steps for bifurcation of the High Court, withdrawal of postings of Andhra native judges in TS and cancellation of the suspension of 11 judges.

During his hour-long meeting, the Chief Minister requested Mr Narasimhan to take to steps to end the impasse. Statements of AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Cabinet colleagues on non-allocation of funds for the High Court and contradiction by BJP leaders also came up for discussions, it is learnt.

Mr Dattatreya also met the Governor on behalf of the Central government.
“I requested the Governor to speed up bifurcation of the High Court, lift suspension of judges and withdrawal of postings of new judges to TS. The Governor promised to discuss the issues with the Chief Justice,” Mr Dattatreya said.

Sources said that Mr Narasimhan would also take up the matter with Mr Naidu and go to New Delhi to meet the Union home and law ministers. Mr Naidu, who returned from his China tour, had made it clear he was also in favour of a separate HC for AP.

There has been a flurry of activities in New Delhi and Hyderabad after T-advocates and judges struck work. Union law minister Sadananda Gowda, as promised to state leaders, spoke to the Governor and asked him to take steps in consultations with the CMs of both the states.

Earlier in the day, acting Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court, Justice Dilip B. Bhosale met Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur in New Delhi and discussed the issues. A decision is expected on suspension of judges and other issues.

Convene meeting of Telangana and AP CMs, says Bar Council
The Bar Council has requested Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of TS and AP to end the ongoing dispute over bifurcation of the High Court and allotment of judicial officers.

Bar Council chairman Narsimha Reddy wrote to Mr Narasimhan in this regard on Saturday. He brought the PIL that was filed in High Court on this issue to the notice of the Governor.

Disposing of the case, the High Court had directed the AP government to identify the location for a permanent High Court for the state, along with administrative and residential blocks.The HC pronounced the verdict on May 1, 2015 and the entire process of identifying the buildings was to have ended within six months.

Mr Reddy stated that violations were done in allotment of judicial officers. Under the circumstances, the options exercised by judicial officers from AP were contrary to the guidelines issued by the High Court, he said.