Taking serious note of the protest by Telangana state judges, the high court of Judicature at Hyderabad on Monday suspended two judges.

The high court cracked the whip a day after scores of judges marched to Raj Bhavan and submitted en masse resignations to protest the allotment of Andhra-origin judges to subordinate courts in Telangana.

Telangana Judges Association president K Ravinder Reddy and secretary Varaprasad have been suspended for the open defiance and violation of code of conduct for judges.

More than 100 judges on Sunday had submitted their resignation to Ravinder Reddy and authorised him to forward the same to Governor ESL Narasimhan, who is their appointing authority, after 2 July if the provisional list of allotment was not recalled by then.

The high court action promoted strong protest from Telangana lawyers' association. Several lawyers staged a protest at the high court premises.

At the city civil court, a lawyer attempted self immolation to protest suspension. Tirumal Rao poured kerosene and was about to set himself ablaze but other lawyers and policemen prevented him.

The lawyers' association held an emergency meeting and decided to intensify their protest over the issue.

The lawyers decided to boycott the court of acting chief justice of the high court from Tuesday. They also decided to meet state MPs, the President, Chief Justice of India, the Union Law and Home Ministers to present their case.

Telangana Lawyers' Joint Action Committee convenor Rajender Reddy demanded immediate recall of acting Chief Justice Dilip Bhosale, saying he failed to do justice to Telangana.

The lawyers across Telangana have been protesting provisional allotment of judges for over a month. The state judges also joined the protest last week. They marched to Raj Bhavan on Sunday as part of the protest.

The list of provisional allotment of judges to lower courts issued on 5 May contained 335 judicial officers who were allotted to Telangana and 495 to Andhra Pradesh as part of the bifurcation of the lower judiciary. The association said about 130 officers of Andhra nativity were allotted to Telangana after they exercised the option.

The lawyers have also been demanding immediate bifurcation of the high court, which is currently serving both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.