Hyderabad, Oct 30, 2013 :A writ was filed by Mr D A
Somayajulu, Member, Political Affairs Committee, YSRCP in Hon’ble Supreme Court
of India on 28th October 2013 praying for declaring the action of
Government of India on 3rd October 2013 creating Telangana State
under Article 3 of the Constitution of India as unconstitutional.
The grounds are as follows:
1.
Article 3
no doubt empowers Parliament to create new States on the reference from the
President. It is to be clearly understood that such a power has to be exercised
according to a policy created for that purpose and not whimsically, selectively
or on a case to case basis. It is now settled that every State action, in order
to survive, must not be susceptible to the vice of arbitrariness which is the
crux of Article 14 of the Constitution and basic to the rule of law, the system
which governs us. Arbitrariness is the very negation of the rule of law.
2.
All the
states that have been created so far under Art 3 of the Constitution is on the
basis of recommendation of a Commission like the SRC or a Report of a Committee
like that of JVP Committee or Dar Committee or Wanchoo committee or upon
receipt of a request from a State assembly. These are the established
conventions. Unfortunately, the present action of Union Government not only
does not conform to any of the established conventions and practices but also
goes against the recommendations of Justice Srikrishna Committee, which
recommended that the best option is to keep the state united. So, the decision
of the Union Government on 3rd October 2013 is arbitrary and is
therefore ultra vires the
Constitution.
3.
It is
relevant to recall that Justice Sarkaria Commission had in their Report
submitted in January 1988 dealt at length on Art 3 of the Constitution of India
and observed at para 2.29.07 that there is no need to amend Art 3 because “It is
noteworthy that these legislations(creating new States) were passed either with
the consent of the States affected, or on the recommendations of a Commission
or Committee set up for the purpose.”
4.
Justice Punchhi Commission
appointed by Union Government in their detailed 7 Volume Report on
Centre-State Relations submitted on 31st March 2010 has observed in
respect of Art 3 as follows:
“4.2.02. The Central Government,
in effect, cannot concede to the demands of regional groups/communities for a
separate State unless such a proposal is received from the State(s) in which
these groups are currently located.”
5. The following statement made by Shri L K Advani,
the then Union Home Minister of India in Parliament on 1st August
2000 on the subject of separate statehood for Vidarbha makes this amply clear.
“In 1953-54, a States Reorganisation Commission
was constituted and Indian States were reorganized on linguistic basis. It will
be in fitness of things if another States Reorganisation Commission is
constituted today. There have been different demands from different states as
well as different regions. The people of Vidarbha raised a particular demand
which is opposed by the people of rest of Maharashtra. We have taken the line
that we can accede to a demand from a particular region only if due weightage
is given to it by passing a resolution to that effect in the State Legislative
Assembly. It does not mean that we will concede everything passed by the State
Assembly but with regard to creation of a State, the Assembly resolution
signifies a general consensus.”
6. It is important to note that even Sri P
Chidambaram, the then Union Home Minister in his Statement dealing with the
subject of Telangana on 9th December 2009 said that an appropriate
resolution will be moved in the state assembly. His statement is reproduced
below:
“The process of forming the state of Telangana
will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the state
assembly.”
7.
The issue
of creation of smaller states was discussed during the Seventy-Fourth
Conference of the Presiding Officers of Legislative bodies in the country held
at Bhopal during February 3-4, 2010 with Smt. Meira Kumar, Speaker of Lok Sabha
in the Chair. It was resolved in that conference as follows:
‘The Constitution vests the powers to create new states in
Parliament and Parliament as such may be the best institution to delineate
definite parameters and facilitate a national view in the matter. Parliament,
in our view, may be the best forum to consider as to whether the time is ripe
for the constitution of the second States Reorganisation Commission.’
8. AP CONGRESS MANIFESTO 2004 on The Telangana ISSUE
“The Congress Party recognizes the growing aspiration of the people of
Telangana Region for Statehood. There
are similar demands from other parts of the country. The Congress Working Committee, at its
meeting held on 30th October, 2000 considered this issue in proper
perspective and resolved that "while respecting the report of the first
States Reorganization Commission, the Congress Party notes that there are many
valid reasons for formation of separate States in Vidarbha and Telangana. However, the Reorganization of existing States
raises a large number of issues. The
Congress Party feels that the whole matter could be best addressed by another
States Reorganization Commission to look into all the issues involved".
9. AP CONGRESS MANIFESTO 2009:
“On the Telangana issue, the Congress
Party pledges to honour the stand taken by the Government on the floor of the
House. The Congress Government has already constituted a Committee of Members
of both the Houses under the Chairmanship of senior Congress leader Sri K.
Rosaiah. The report is awaited.”
It is clear from the above that the power vested
in Parliament under Art 3 of the Constitution is only an enabling clause, which
can be exercised only in accordance with a Policy made for that purpose. This
is what is revealed by the conventions and practices followed by Union
Government in respect of formation 28 states so far. Both the High powered
Judicial Committees viz Justice Sarkaria Commission and Justice Punchhi
Commission have clearly said that there should be a basis like a Report of a
Commission or a State Assembly resolution as a must for creation of new states;
The same was announced as the Union Government’s policy by Sri L K Advani as
the then Union Home Minister.
Same view was also expressed by the Conference of
Presiding officers. The only independent committee appointed by Union
Government the Justice Srikrishna Committee clearly recommended that the state
be kept united. It is inexplicable as
to why the Union Government did not obtain the Resolution of the State Assembly
for division of the State. What then
is the basis for creation of Telangana state? Atleast, the Congress Manifesto
2004 and 2009 have not made any blanket promise that Telangana state would be
formed. Hence, the Union Government’s decision is purely on narrow political
considerations and is therefore liable to be quashed.
MLC Lella Appi Reddy, submitted a formal letter to the Deputy Secretary of the GAD 
