The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it will not interfere with its earlier direction to Hyderabad HC to complete appointment of judicial officers for Telangana State and AP within six months. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justices A.K. Sikri and Arun Mishra said bifurcation of judicial cadre could be made after officers were selected and exercised their option.
The SC on Thursday said that there was no impediment for the Hyderabad High Court to proceed with promotions of judicial officers. Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Telangana submitted before the bench that though the court had directed commencement of the process of appointments on January 20, such appointments could not be made unless the Telangana put in place a separate judicial cadre. He said, “Recruitments can’t be done in the air. The state must know how many judicial officers can be recruited. Recruitment must be done after calling for option from the candidates.” He said the state had filed the present application seeking clarification of the January 20 order.
