Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar has been appointed as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh with effect from January 1. The appointment was made by President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday. He has been selected from a pool of 16 judges who were shifted to the newly formed Andhra Pradesh High court. Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar is the senior-most Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. He is the son of late Chagari Padmanabha Reddy, a prominent criminal advocate in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
The notification that came through the Union Law Ministry read, “Consequent upon the constitution of separate High Court for the State of Andhra Pradesh by the President vide notification dated 26.12.2018, and in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar, senior-most Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that High Court with effect 01.01.2019.”
The Union Law Ministry issued an order on Wednesday signed by President Ram Nath Kovind, which said that Andhra Pradesh will have its own High Court from January 1 next year at its capital Amaravati and the High Court at Hyderabad shall become the High Court for Telangana. The order also allocated judges to the two high courts.
However, lawyers affiliated to the Andhra Pradesh High court have been seeking an extension of stay at the present premises until March next year. The lawyers staged a dharna before the Hyderabad High Court demanding an extension. The lawyers argue that three days were not enough to shift to Amaravati, when the construction of the temporary Andhra Pradesh High Court was yet to be completed.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said that the court could function out of his camp office in the capital region until January 4. As there would be a holiday period of 20 days starting from January 5, the CM assured that the judicial complex at Amaravati would be completed by then.