Justice Srikrishna panel for Telangana

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday announced the Telangana panel, which would consider the demand for splitting Andhra Pradesh. The government,

however, is yet to frame the terms of reference for the panel headed by B N Srikrishna, a retired judge of the Supreme Court. “The terms of reference are being drafted and will be finalised in consultation with the chairman and announced shortly,” a home ministry release said.

The panel will meet with groups of people and political parties in Andhra Pradesh on the issue of the formation of a separate state out of the Telangana region. “When and how long the group will meet and when it will come to a recommendation are yet to be decided,” the home ministry statement said.

The government decided on constituting an experts panel after a January meeting of different political parties to discuss the issue failed to arrive at a consensus on the formation of a separate state of Telangana.

Besides Srikrishna, the panel has National Law University vice-chancellor Ranbir Singh, International Food Policy Research Institute’s senior research fellow Abusaleh Shariff, IIT professor Ravinder Kaur and former home secretary V K Duggal as members.

Shortly after announcement of the panel, the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), spearheading the agitation for a separate state, said it would wait for the terms of reference of the committee before giving its views. The TRS, too, said it would wait for terms of reference of the Srikrishna Committee to be announced.

The BJP rejected the committee, saying it will serve no purpose as there was no clear reference for creation of a separate Telangana. Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley alleged that the Centre has adopted an escapist attitude on the creation of a separate Telangana. “It is trying to fire from the shoulders of the judiciary by appointing a retired judge to decide the Telangana issue,” Mr Jaitley said. “I personally feel that retired judges cannot take political decisions as they are not trained for it. They have been trained to take constitutional, criminal and other decisions,” Mr Jaitley added.

Over the last two months, normal life has been hit across the Telangana region, with TRS and other parties

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