Amidst vociferous protests by TRS MPs in the Lok Sabha over the delay in the setting up of a separate High Court for Telangana, the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre reiterated its commitment to fulfill the assurances made in this regard.
Both Union Minister for Law Sadananda Gowda and Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu repeatedly told the agitated TRS members that the Centre had already begun the process of setting up a separate High Court for Telangana, and was awaiting instructions from the Chief Justice of the combined High Court in Hyderabad.
But the assurances from the two Union ministers did not cut much ice with the protesting TRS members, and Venkaiah Naidu at one stage even lost his cool and advised K Kavitha not to politicize the issue and refrain from dragging the names of persons who were not members of the House and thus unable to defend themselves.
The sharp reaction of Venkaiah Naidu came in the wake of Kavitha accusing the Centre of deliberately delaying the setting up of a separate Telangana High Court and that AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was exerting pressure on the Union government to delay the process so as to control Telangana through the High Court.
Venkaiah Naidu reminded the TRS member that the BJP was not a regional party but a national party, and that both Telangana and AP were equal to the Central government.
Earlier, the Union Minister for Law asserted that the present building of the High Court in Hyderabad belonged to Telangana. The High Court for Andhra Pradesh would be temporarily located at any place in Hyderabad as per the choice of AP. This arrangement would be only temporary, till AP located its High Court in its own capital.
The TRS member then pointed out that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had already intimated that the required space for the AP High Court would be provided, and wondered where the hitch was in carving out a separate High Court for Telangana. Thereupon, the Union Law Minister pointed out that the issue was now before the combined High Court in Hyderabad, and the Centre was awaiting the necessary instructions from the Chief Justice on administrative aspects.