A five-member committee of judges from the Hyderabad High Court is likely to visit Vijayawada next week, where a temporary High Court is being proposed for Andhra Pradesh, close to its upcoming capital of Amaravati.
The committee was constituted by the Acting Chief Justice, and will report to him on the buildings that are suitable to house the High Court.
Quoting sources, The Hindu reported that Acharya Nagarjuna University, a ready-to-occupy building near Gannavaram, a few buildings in a private college at Ibrahimpatnam, and the district court buildings in Guntur are among the choices before the committee.
Meanwhile, a group of advocates protested in Kurnool city, demanding that the High Court should be set up in the state’s Rayalaseema area.
“I request Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Leader of Opposition, YS Jaganmohan Reddy, to not forget their roots and note that they are from Rayalaseema. Therefore, we demand that a High Court be established in Kurnool," Jayaraju Yeggoni, who was leading the protest, told reporters.
The advocates, who protested under the aegis of AP SC/ST Lawyers Forum, also demanded that Naidu fulfil his promises made to the lawyers, before the 2014 elections.
When Andhra Pradesh was first reorganised from the Madras Province, Kurnool was made its capital and the High Court functioned from Guntur until 1956.
Following this, the capital and the High Court shifted to Hyderabad. In 2014, following the bifurcation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the state is looking to build its capital at Amaravati.
Earlier this month, Naidu wrote to the Hyderabad High Court's Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, urging him to check and approve one of the buildings identified for housing the state's HC. The committee was constituted after the ACJ convened a Full Court meeting.
According to reports, 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.
Once the building gets selected, judges will also have to be transferred and evenly distributed.