Telangana And AP Advocates Demand Supreme Court Bench At Hyderabad, Speedy Appointment Of CJ And Judges To HC

It has been over a month since the collegium cleared Justice Thottathil  Radhakrishnan’s candidature for the post of Chief Justice of the High Court. Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu’s transfer from Kerala High Court to High Court at Hyderabad was also cleared by the collegium last year, but has since been pending with the Centre. Justice K.M. Joseph, who is currently the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court had also been recommended to be transferred to the High Court at Hyderabad in May, 2016.

The Telangana High Court Advocates' Association and the A.P. High Court Advocates' Association have decided to abstain from work on 1 and 2 March, to protest against judicial vacancies at the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad.

In a resolution passed on Tuesday, the Associations also highlighted the fact that the High Court hasn't had a regular Chief Justice for nearly three years now. While Justice D.B. Bhosle functioned as the Acting Chief Justice from May, 2015 to July, 2016, Justice Ramesh Ranganathan has been working as the Acting Chief Justice since then.

The Associations further requested the Supreme Court to withdraw the circular directing Courts to dispose of cases pending prior to 2012, asserting that the same is "causing lot of hardships to the litigants as well as Advocates, in view of requisite full strength of Judges in Subordinate Courts".

The continuation of the amendment to Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is also being protested against, and a demand to establish a Supreme Court bench at Hyderabad has been put forth.

While resolving to abstain from Court work for two days, the Advocates have decided to carry out a protest rally from A.P. Bar Council to Madina building, and to discuss the issue once again after 15 days, in order to decide on the future course of action.

It may be pertinent to note here that several appointments to the High Court have been cleared by the Collegium but have been pending with the Centre for a while now. It has been over a month since the collegium cleared Justice Thottathil  Radhakrishnan's candidature for the post of Chief Justice of the High Court. Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu's transfer from Kerala High Court to High Court at Hyderabad was also cleared by the collegium last year, but has since been pending with the Centre.

Justice K.M. Joseph, who is currently the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court had also been recommended to be transferred to the High Court at Hyderabad in May, 2016. However, the recommendation hasn't materialized yet. Recently the collegium has cleared his name for elevation to Supreme Court, That proposal is also pending with the Government.