When Telangana judges turned street protesters
Synopsis
Two years after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, all is not quiet inside the courtroom in Telangana. The judges of the new state are seething that posts in Telangana are being filled with judicial officers from Andhra Pradesh. Voices of 'Andhra judges, go back' are being heard all over again. Except the High court of Hyderabad, no court in Telangana is functioning since June 6.
That judiciary will be the new battleground was obvious when the list of provisional allotment of judges to lower courts in both states was issued on May 5 by the High court. 335 judicial officers were allotted to Telangana and 495 to Andhra Pradesh. Telangana saw red when it noticed that of the 335 in the Telangana pool, 130 were officers of Andhra nativity.
Which is why on Sunday, Hyderabad saw the strange sight of about 130 'honourable' judges - district and civil judges from all ten districts of Telangana - hitting the roads, claiming they have lost trust in the higher judiciary to deliver unbiased justice. What could be a worse certificate for the High court of Hyderabad, when its own lower judiciary calls it 'untrustworthy'. They threatened to resign en masse, protesting against what they called 'stepmotherly treatment'.
A note issued by the Judges Association points out "We are afraid of their future intervention in political and executive administration of Telangana.'' What it essentially insinuates is that Telangana's judicial machinery suspects that it is an attempt to ensure judicial interference by Andhra Pradesh in matters concerning Telangana.
Post-bifurcation, the high court of Andhra Pradesh was rechristened as the Hyderabad high court and was serving as the top judicial body for both Telugu states. The AP Reorganisation Act provides for a separate court for Telangana but works on it has been extremely tardy. The Andhra vs Telangana feelings that were dominant during the agitation has once come to the fore with the judges saying, "We cannot work under Andhra judicial rulers''. Effigies of Andhra judges being burnt in court complexes has only worsened the working atmosphere.
Expressing no confidence in the high court, the note said : ``We feel we are working under the high court of Andhra Pradesh and not under the high court of both states. So we unanimously resolved not to approach the high court for redressal on judicial side, orally, as majority in high court are with a biased attitude towards our issue.''
It does not look like work at courts in Telangana will start anytime soon. The advocates even blocked work at the High court for a day on June 13. That triggered an angry reaction from the Registrar of the court who complained to the Telangana government, asking for deployment of security to ensure the men in black do not take law into their own hands.
The trust deficit between the people of Telangana and Andhra defined the period of the Telangana agitation. Now, when they have come to terms with the division and have put the acrimony that was seen during the agitation behind them, this latest flashpoint will only make them say : `Oh My Lord'.