BIFURCATION OF HYDERABAD HC FLAWED

These days, the high priests do not care about the Constitution. A case in point is the creation of a High Court for the new state of Andhra Pradesh

- JUSTICE J CHELAMESWAR

The Constitution of India is a politically sacred legal document that was meticulously and painstakingly drafted. It enshrines the ideals cherished by the founding fathers of the new Republic. But I am afraid it is progressively ceasing to be of any relevance in the orderly governance of the country. Within about 70 years, it has been reduced to a holy book worthy of veneration without following either its letter or spirit.

In fact, it has become a source of power-for misrule for each of the three great branches of the government established under the Constitution. Incumbents of various constitutional offices by and large seem to lack enthusiasm to either study the text of the Constitution or understand its scheme. It has become only a source of authority over the people of India without caring for its noble purpose. Its articles are mindlessly chanted as if they are the hymns of Vedas.

The high priests of the Indian Constitution are the judges of Constitutional courts. Even they are happy with clichés, esoteric phrases and quotations from long deceased lawyers and judges from other countries. A case in point is the recent farce, occasioned by the creation of the new High Court for the (new) state of Andhra Pradesh. The existing state of Andhra Pradesh (as it existed from 1956 to 2014) was bifurcated by an Act of Parliament titled the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. It created two new states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The said Act contains various provisions required for the creation of the two new states. Since it is the mandate of