Supreme Court refuses to stay Centre's notification on Telangana

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today refused to stay Centre's notification for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana, saying that no interim order can be passed on it.

A bench headed by Justice H L Dattu, which had agreed to examine the constitutional validity of Centre's decision to create new state, said that it would hear the case in August.

Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh had come under judicial scrutiny with the Supreme Court on March 7 agreeing to examine it and sought response from the Centre.

It had issued notice to the Centre on a batch of petitions filed by several people, including former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, challenging bifurcation of the State.

The petitioners contended that the bifurcation of the State is illegal and unconstitutional. They questioned Centre's decision to pass the Bill pertaining to division of the State in Parliament despite it being rejected by the State Assembly.

There are around 18 petitions filed in the apex court challenging the bifurcation of the State.

Parliament gave its approval on February 20 for the creation of Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.

The court had on February 7 refused to stay the tabling of Telangana Bill and on February 17, it had dismissed two petitions challenging the division of Andhra Pradesh.