Hyderabad HC takes away district judges' power to grant leave

A day after some 200 lower court judges in Telangana went on mass leave, Hyderabad High Court today withdrew the powers of district judges to grant leave to subordinates judges.
"Powers of Principal District and Sessions Judges/Metropolitan Sessions Judges/Additional District and Sessions Judges regarding grant of any leave to the judicial officers in the cadre of Senior Civil Judges and Junior Civil Judges...Are hereby withdrawn until further orders," a circular issued by Registrar (vigilance) said.
Judicial officers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are directed not to avail of any kind of leave without prior sanction of the High Court, it added.

Leave applications of subordinate judges shall be forwarded to the HC, it said.
However, a member of Telangana Judges Association (TJA), which has launched agitation against allocation of judicial officers between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, said the lower court judges would continue to be on leave despite this fiat.
The High Court has so far suspended 11 judicial officers on disciplinary grounds following the agitation.
TJA is opposed to appointment of judges who hail from AP to the lower courts in Telangana.