Lawyers May End Strike As CJI Offers To Intervene

Chief Justice of India T S Thakur today advised the agitating Telangana advocates and judicial officials to withdraw their strike and resume duties immediately, and rely on him to sort out the issue.

As the CJI also promised to talk to Union Law Minister Sadananda Gowda to find an amicable solution, the warring Telangana advocates are likely to withdraw their strike temporarily after a meeting in Hyderabad on Monday.

The CJI had summoned Hyderabad High Court Chief Justice Dilip Bhosale, and asked a team of Telangana judicial officials, led by Rajender Reddy and others, to meet him at his Delhi residence. There he asked the advocates to withdraw the protests.

During the interaction, the Telangana Advocates JAC urged Thakur to intervene for the immediate bifurcation of the Hyderabad High Court and for the recall of the suspended judicial officials, and also stall the appointments made of judicial officers which they claim were done violating norms.

The CJI admitted the need for the split of the High Court between the two Telugu States, and also reportedly agreed with their argument that the HC had taken a unilateral decision to appoint judicial officials without a Central committee's guidelines.

The JAC also apprised the CJI of "injustice" being meted out to them as the AP government seemed to be trying to dominate even after the bifurcation of the judicature, and urged him to find a solution through a meeting with the Chief Ministers of the two States - K Chandrashekar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu.

Talking to mediapersons, Rajender Reddy said that the CJI had promised to sort out the issue and had asked them to withdraw the strike first since he could intervene in the issue only when the advocates withdrew their stir as otherwise it would send wrong signals.

The Telangana advocates would hold a meeting in Hyderabad on Monday to discuss and take a decision on their stir, he said.