Lawyers strike: Centre to meet Telangana, Andhra CMs
Synopsis
To settle the issue of bifurcation of Hyderabad High Court, the Centre is reportedly planning to convene a meeting of chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
An official confirmation of the proposed meeting is likely to be announced in a day or two. The centre has taken the move in the wake of ongoing agitation of lawyers and judges in Telangana. Recently, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao met Governor ESL Narasimhan and a delegation of Telangana lawyers met the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice TS Thakur in New Delhi.
While KCR called on the Governor on Saturday, the Telangana lawyers met CJI on Sunday morning. Both Governor Narasimhan and Chief Justice Thakur assured that they would bring the matter to the notice of union government.
Amid reports of meeting with the CJI and the Governor, there are rumours that section of advocates are ready to tone down their stand.
After their meeting with Chief Justice of India, a leader of advocates JAC Rajinder Reddy said that the Chief Justice was ready to intervene and find a solution to the bifurcation issue but that can be explored only in a peaceful environment.
“The Chief Justice was of the opinion that the issue was not insurmountable and without a solution. He said the issue was a minor thing and doesn’t warrant protracted agitation by the lawyers and judges. He wanted us to call off the agitation. We will discuss the issue with our colleagues once we are back home in Hyderabad and take a decision on resuming the court work,” Rajinder Reddy said.
Reports suggest that following assurance by the Governor for an amicable solution, CM KCR might ask the lawyers to call off the strike.
A leader of agitating lawyers also added that the strike can be called off if the suspension of 11 judges and four court employees by the High Court is revoked.
Since Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is not ready for a one-on-one meeting with his counterpart KCR, the Governor has been urged to advise the centre for a meeting at Delhi in the presence of Union Law Minister.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Naidu felt that a meeting with KCR, won’t resolve the issue because Andhra Pradesh is not in a position to construct High Court complex at Amaravati right away because of the paucity of funds.
According to sources, the Union Law Minister is expected to invite Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to the meeting to be held in Delhi in a couple of days.
Demanding immediate creation of separate High Court for Telangana, the lawyers and the judicial officers have been agitating for many months. The provisional division of Judges between the two states added fuel to the lawyers’ agitation as many judges of Andhra origin had been allotted Telangana. This led to the boycotting of courts by lawyers and judges across the state which in turn led to the suspension of 11 judges and vitiated the situation.
