An attempt by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to convince agitators to call off their ongoing stir failed as a delegation of senior advocates who called on him at the Raj Bhavan on Monday morning, politely turned down his appeal.
A delegation of judicial employees led by the All India Judicial Employees Association national secretary, Laxma Reddy also met the Governor at 6 p.m. on Monday.
Some of them included judicial officers who had applied mass casual leave and were hence suspended. The Governor is understood to have told them that the judgement in terms of the provisional seniority list was given by a full bench of the High Court.
Stand-off
It appeared to be a stand-off with the judicial employees seeking an assurance from the Governor that their suspensions would be revoked, after which they were ready to offer written apologies.
But Mr. Narasimhan apparently wanted them to first tender their apology letters, after which the matter would be taken forward.
When asked, Mr. Laxma Reddy said they could not give up the stir unless the suspensions were revoked and Union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda took the initiative to make Chief Ministers K. Chandrasekhar Rao (Telangana) and N. Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) sit together and thrash out the issue.
Governor’s advise
When some senior advocates including President of Telangana High Court Advocates Association, Gandra Mohan Rao, called on the Governor and sought his intervention, he said the Governor had urged them to call off the agitation that began on June 6, saying legal work was being affected across the State. The Governor is understood to have told the advocates that he would take up the issue with Acting Chief Justice of High Court, Dilip B. Bhosale.
Governor’s pro-active role
However, the advocates declined, saying they would not withdraw until the suspensions of 11 judicial officers and an equal number of judicial staff were taken back. According to a senior functionary of the Raj Bhavan, Mr. Narasimhan told the judicial officials that such agitations would hurt their own interests and impact future generations too.
The functionary also said the Governor had personally met the Chief Justice of India thrice and even written a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Union Law Minister should make KCR and Naidu sit together to thrash out the issue.
Laxma Reddy,
National secretary,
All India Judicial Employees Association.
