Telangana political issue: Apex court

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Friday declined to interfere with the Telangana imbroglio saying that it was a political issue and was better left to the political bosses.

“Why should this court entertain the PIL at this stage? It is a political question. No decision has been taken so far. Why should we pre-empt it,” said Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice Kapadia and Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan said the court could step in only after the law carving out a separate state of Telangana was put in place and the same was challenged before it.

The court said that when such a law was made it would be open to the petitioner to move the court.

The court made these observations in the wake of the hearing of a PIL seeking to restrain the Justice Srikrishna Committee from going ahead with its task of examining the request for a separate state of Telangana.

The petitioner Bondada Purushottam Yadav told the court that when the state of Telangana would be created it would violate the unity and integrity of Andhra Pradesh.

The Srikrishna committee is engaged in seeking the opinions of political parties, organizations, individuals and groups on the demand for a separate state of Telangana.

Disposing of the PIL, Chief Justice Kapadia said that the stage for the court to step in had not come. “We don’t know what would be the recommendation of the Justice Srikrishna Committee and what would be its paradigms.”

Senior counsel Harish Salve who appeared for another petitioner Srinivas Reddy wondered on what “principles states are formed”. “Should there not be some parameters. Can it be done on politicians’ and public demand,” he said.

Salve said that when the Srikrishna committee was set up there were no proper terms of reference. The senior counsel asked how could the demand for Telangana be justified on “linguistic and administrative basis”.