Naidu, CJI must decide on Hyderabad HC split, not Centre, says Gowda

Hyderabad: Union law minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday made it clear that the Centre has no role in bifurcation of the High Court and that it is the responsibility of the AP Chief Minister and the Chief Justice of the High Court.

He criticised TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for making false allegations against the Centre while sarcastically welcoming him to stage a dharna like Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

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“The Centre has no role in the bifurcation of a High Court. The AP Reorganisation Act clearly states that for another 10 years, shifting of the capital and other things are the options of the AP government; it is the responsibility of the AP Chief Minister to provide infrastructure and the Chief Justice of the High Court has to bifurcate the judges,” he said.

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Gowda on Tuesday said once the infrastructure was ready and the judges are separated, afterwards the CJI has to concur and the paper has to be processed by the ministry of law and justice.

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“The Chief Justice should take care of TS as well as AP as per the Reorganisation Act,” he said. Mr Gowda refused to comment further since the matter is subjudice, as a review petition of a dismissed PIL is pending before the High Court.

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He admitted that the number of judges in the High Court from TS was very less compared to AP. “We did a study and we got statistics. AP High Court’s approved strength is 37 and TS’ is 24. The working strength at present in AP is 18 and TS three. I don’t dispute that,” he said.