With lawyers abstaining from work protesting against the proposed transfer of Justice A. Abhishek Reddy to Patna High Court, work before all benches of the Telangana High Court was affected during post-lunch session on Thursday. Telangana High Court Advocates Association president V. Raghunath said the boycott of work before all benches in Telangana HC would continue on Friday.
He appealed to all bar associations of all courts in the districts to abstain from work on Friday pledging solidarity with the protests being registered by the HC Bar Association. Supreme Court Collegium on the previous day passed a resolution recommending transfer of Justice A. Abhishek Reddy, who assumed charge on August 26, 2019, to Patna HC.
On learning this, THCAA convened an emergency general body meeting on HC premises on Thursday afternoon and decided to register their protest against the transfer of the judge. Describing the recommendation for the transfer of Justice Abhishek Reddy ‘uncalled for and arbitrary’, the Association unanimously resolved to record their dissatisfaction over the decision, Mr. Raghunath said.
Condemning the transfer, the Association observed that the way transfer of the judge was mooted would affect the independence of the judiciary and rule of law. “There had been some apprehensions among lawyers fraternity that some judge of Telangana High Court would be transferred without there being any guidelines,” Mr. Raghunath said speaking with The Hindu.
It was unfortunate that judges were selectively being picked up for transfer, he said. The HC Bar Association president said boycott of the HC would continue till the transfer recommendation was recalled.
After boycotting the courts, the lawyers took out a protest rally from the Bar Council of Telangana office onto the main road condemning transfer of the judge. Earlier, lawyers went to all court halls in the HC and appealed to the legal fraternity to abstain from work as a mark of protest against the transfer of the judge.
