Telangana, Andhra Advocates demand SC Bench, filling up HC vacancies; Resolve to abstain from work

An Extraordinary General Body Meeting (EGM) of members of Telangana High Court Advocates Association (THCAA) and Andhra Pradesh High Court Advocates Association (APHCAA) was held at the Association Hall of the High Court yesterday..Members of the two bodies unanimously decided to abstain from court work on March 1 and 2, 2018, and resolved to demand action by the Central Government, the State Government and the Supreme Court on several issues..Members will also stage a protest rally from the Bar Association to the Medina building, which is less than half a kilometer away. The date and time of protest, however, have not been specified..The Central Government and Supreme Court were urged to fill up judicial vacancies at the High Court as well as appoint a regular Chief Justice. The post has been vacant since 2015..It was also resolved to demand that a Bench of the Supreme Court be set up at Hyderabad..The resolution also demanded that the Supreme Court withdraw a circular issued to High Courts to ensure that cases filed prior to 2012 were speedily disposed of. The resolution states that the circular was causing both litigants and advocates distress, owing to the subordinate judiciary functioning well below its sanctioned strength..Further, another demand that has been made is that Section 41-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc), which was amended in 2008, be ‘dropped’. The Section deals with the power of police to summon persons against whom a credible complaint has been made or against whom credible suspicion exists, but an arrest is not deemed necessary..The resolution, however, did not specifically state how the provision was detrimental to the interests of advocates..The body will meet again in 15 days time to discuss further course of action, if their demands are not met..Protests over growing vacancies at High Courts have become something of an epidemic in the last couple of months, with lawyers at Karnataka, Odisha and Calcutta having to resort to court boycotts to draw the attention of the authorities to the issue..Read the resolution