AP lawyers resent protests by Telangana advocates

Rajahmundry: AP lawyers abstained from court duty across the state on Monday in protest against a series of activities being carried out by lawyers and judges in TS, jeopardising the interests of their counterparts in AP. AP lawyers alleged that subordinate judicial officers, who are working in TS and who opted to work in Telangana were being subjected to threats by T-advocates and court staff. They alleged that T-advocates were even entering courts and threatening AP-origin judicial officers to return to AP, and daubing black paint on the nameplates of these judicial officers.

AP lawyers have condemned the announcement by T-advocates that they will take out a symbolic funeral procession of AP lawyers on June 22 in Hyderabad and urged them to give up such a proposal. AP lawyers also urged the TS government to intervene and restrain its legal fraternity not to create hatred against them and also appealed to the Governor to intervene if the TS government fails to act upon this issue.

According to AP lawyers, T-advocates’ demand that posting of subordinate judicial officers should be based on nativity and that judges hailing from AP and opting to work in TS should go back to AP, does not have legal standing. They quoted Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution, which says that subordinate judicial officers ranging from junior civil judge to district judge are all-India cadre posts and there will be no issue of local or non-local.

Based on these rules, judges from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar and Maharashtra are working in AP and TS at present. They said Sections 77 and 78 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 do not restrict the recruitment of officials to the subordinate judiciary. It should be done on all-India basis and any Indian citizen having requisite eligibility can apply for the tests. As many as 172 posts of senior civil judges exist in both AP and TS at present and they are to be allocated on a 58:42 ratio.

AP is to be allocated 100 judges but it has been allocated 113 judges. TS is to get 72 judges but it got only 59 senior civil judges. AP lawyers said that more number of people hailing from AP got selected in All India test and they were appointed in Telangana. They have asked their counterparts in Ts not to vitiate the sanctity of judiciary. “We have abstained from court duty today to protest in a democratic manner and if the legal fraternity in TS fails to understand us and mend their ways, we will intensify our stir further,” said Muppala Subba Rao, AP Bar Council member.