Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya on Saturday said it was for the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to sit across the table and sort out the issue of bifurcation of the High Court.
He called on Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan along with Chairman of the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana A. Narasimha Reddy and discussed the issue of ongoing agitation by advocates opposing option to work in Telangana given to AP-origin subordinate judicial officers.
Asked whether he gave any suggestion to the Governor, Mr. Dattatreya said he did not as there was no necessity.
He, however, reiterated that the Centre was ready for bifurcation of the High Court provided the two Chief Ministers came to an understanding.
He sought to know of what use it was in criticising another government when Telangana was claiming that it was ready for sorting out the issue through dialogue both with Andhra Pradesh and the Centre.
When his attention was drawn to allegations that AP Chief Minister N. Chadrababu Naidu was behind the delay in bifurcation of the High Court and his claims that there was nothing wrong in having the common High Court during the period Hyderabad remained the common capital for 10 years as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, the Union Minister said: “Yes, that’s the provision. If Telangana wants to speed up the matter of bifurcation of the High Court it should talk to Andhra Pradesh and resolve the issue mutually”.
Bar Council Chairman Narasimha Reddy said he had explained the Governor feelings of the advocates and judicial officers of Telangana on the provisional list of allocation of subordinate judicial officers.
He stated that Andhra Pradesh-origin officers were given the option to work in Telangana by keeping aside the guidelines finalised for the purpose, following a Supreme Court ruling in a petition.
He said there was a feeling among the majority judicial community in Telangana that injustice was caused to many with the provisional allocation of judicial officers and the resultant heartburn had led to the agitation.
