TRS-SKC...abt JUDICIARY

Judiciary

It might sound incredible; but it is a stark reality, that is, with the formation of Andhra Pradesh the Telangana Segment of judiciary too had become a victim of injustice and discrimination. And it continues to be so, even to this day, in some form or the other.

Seniority of Judges made topsy-turvy

With the merger of Telangana with Andhra, the High Courts of the two erstwhile states were naturally amalgamated. But the modus operandi of this amalgamation was formulated in such a way that all the senior most judges of the High Court of Hyderabad (Telangana) were made juniors to the junior most judges of the High Court of former Andhra State. Several senior judges like Justice Qamar Hussain, Justice Manohar Pershad, Jutice Mohmmed Ansari and Justice P. Jagan Mohan Reddy who were appointed as the judges of High Court of Hyderabad (Telangana) between 1942 and 1952 were arbitrarily made juniors to the junior most judges of the Andhra High Court like justice N. D. Krishna Rao and justice Satyanarayana Raju who were appointed only after 1954 – one of them a few months before the formation of Andhra Pradesh on 1st November 1956. This glaringly unjust decision was challenged by Srikishan, a senior barrister from Telangana, but it was not even allowed to be heard. Consequently, seniors became juniors and vice versa - all to the disadvantage of senior judges hailing from the Telangana region. As natural fallout of this discrimination, junior judges of Andhra could become Chief Justices of Andhra Pradesh High Court and judges of Supreme Court of India, whereas several senior judges of Telangana had to retire without getting such opportunities in their careers. In this process, the Chief Justice of erstwhile High Court of Hyderabad, Justice Sripathi Rao, lost his position and was unceremoniously transferred to the High Court of Bombay as an ordinary judge.

Injustice Percolates down the System:

Such unjust and discriminatory policies continue to plague the composition of the Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. During the last 54 years a total number of 167 judges, belonging to Andhra Pradesh, were appointed to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Out of them only 44 belong to the Telangana region against 123 to the other regions.

This imbalance in the composition of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and the resultant domination of Andhra Judges is affecting the system at the lower levels as well. In selecting and appointing district judges, subordinate judges and munsif magistrates, senior judges of the High Court have a decisive say. As the Andhra component of judges has a firm grip on the system, Telangana aspirants for these positions do not get their legitimate share. The details are shown in the following Table.

Positions in the Administration of Justice in A. P.
A Region wise Brakeup
Positions TOTAL
Number Persons from
TELANGANA Persons From
ANDHRA & RAYALASEMA


Advocate General


1 No one from Telangana has been appointed since the formation of AP State

1




Public Prosecutor



1 No one from Telangana has been appointed since the formation of AP State


1

Addl. Advocates General 3 1 2
Addl. Public Prosecutors 3 1 2
Registrar general 1 - 1
Government Pleaders 36 8 28
Asst. Govt. Pleaders 62 13 49
Standing Counsels 250 20 230
Registrars 6 - 6
Joint Registrars 2 1 1
Deputy Registrars 5 3 2
Assistant Registrars 32 5 27
District Judges 260 30 230
Senior Civil Judges 200 30 170
Junior Civil Judges 430 50 380
Section Officers 112 20 92
Deputy Section Officers 62 15 47
Asst. Section officers 90 25 65
Court Masters 134 40 94
Jr. Assistant examiners 269 40 229
Computer Operator 18 - 18
Attenders (High Court) 607 250 357


This is the kind of glaring injustice inflicted on the Telangana component of administration of justice. Further, the story does not stop with the appointment of judges. It pervades the entire system of administration of justice in Andhra Pradesh.
Post of Advocate General-Permanent Denial to Telangana:

It appears to be unbelievable; but it is a fact.

Right from the formation of the state of Andhra Pradesh to this day, no one from the Telangana region has been appointed as the Advocate General of High Court of Andhra Pradesh.

This issue was represented to all the successive chief ministers of the state, but no one cared to give any serious thought to it. On the contrary, one of the former chief ministers, Y. S. Rajashekara Reddy, went to the extent of commenting that only those who enjoy the confidence of the government will be appointed to the position of Advocate General of the state. Can there be a bigger insult to the practitioners of law of Telangana?

It would be necessary to know in this context that the Telangana region offered a galaxy of legal luminaries to the nation. They include judges of the Supreme Court of India, Chief Justices of High Courts of several other states, pivotal positions in the Law Commission of India and International Court of Justice. Further, a distinguished lawyer-turned political leader from Telangana could become the Union Law Minister. None of them, while they were practicing lawyers, was found suitable, ironically enough, to be appointed as the Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh. They enjoyed the confidence of the nation but not of the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh.



Ramifications of Injustice to Judiciary:

This blatantly discriminatory anti-Telangana attitude of the successive Chief Ministers has many ramifications. The Advocate General plays a crucial and decisive role in appointing government pleaders, assistant government pleaders, public prosecutors etc. Thereby, more than 75% of such positions are always held by non-Telangana lawyers. Similarly, no one from Telangana is appointed, so far as the chair person of AP State Administrative Tribunal and State Consumers Forum. Likewise, when teams of advocates to appear before the River Water Dispute Tribunal are appointed, mostly, if not solely, persons belonging to Andhra area are picked. For instance, a team of advocates appointed to argue the case of Andhra Pradesh before the current Tribunal on the Krishna River Water Dispute consists of seven advocates; out of them only one is from the Telangana region. As a result, the interest of Telangana regarding its legitimate share of the Krishna waters is not taken care of. There are also instances of these advocates taking the stand openly against the interests of Telangana.

In this scenario the people of Telangana had, and continue to have, bitter experiences of denial of justice in several spheres of their lives. Therefore, are they not justified in questioning that when the judiciary itself cannot be protected from injustice and discrimination what would be their fate who looks to the judiciary for justice and fair play?