The central government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it was ready to issue a notification on the creation of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, at a place recommended by the state government.
This comes amid speculation that the BJP and TDP governments may clash over the establishment of the High Court in the state's upcoming capital of Amaravati, as a few state-level BJP leaders have backed the ongoing demand to set up the HC in the Rayalaseema region.
According to media reports, NKC Thang, under-secretary, Department of Justice, Law Ministry, told the SC that it was the Andhra government's duty to identify a location and set up the required infrastructure, after consulting with judges from the Hyderabad HC.
Once the structure was ready, the Centre would issue the necessary notification.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Telangana Congress MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, who had asked for a response on several issues that were pending after bifurcation.
Last year, after protests rocked the Lok Sabha, then Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke in the Lok Sabha on the matter of bifurcating the Hyderabad High Court and said that Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had offered four buildings in Amaravati to temporarily host the state's High Court.
The bifurcation would take place according to the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Union Minister said.
Naidu has asked for suggestions by the end of January, so that modifications to the buildings can be made by April, and the court itself can begin functioning by June this year. However, the state now hopes to have a functioning HC by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, there has been a growing sentiment that the HC should be set up in the state’s Rayalaseema region.
Stating that the Andhra government was concentrating development in the Amaravati capital region, many are appealing to Naidu to not repeat his ‘mistake’ of developing a single region between Vijayawada and Guntur while ignoring the rest of the state.
IANS inputs