With just days left for the newly-formed Andhra Pradesh High Court to begin functioning from the residual state's capital at Amaravati, a group of advocates approached the Supreme Court seeking more time for the bifurcation process of the Hyderabad High Court to take place.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court Advocates Association, which moved a plea on Saturday, requested the SC to allow the Andhra HC to work from the premises of the Hyderabad HC, until a proper building is constructed in Amaravati.
The Supreme Court has been on vacation since December 17 and the vacation officer reportedly assured members of the association that a decision on whether their case will be heard or not, will be taken on Sunday. The SC is scheduled to reopen in the first week of January 2019.
Earlier this week, the Hyderabad High Court saw both celebration and protests, as lawyers from Telangana distributed sweets and those from Andhra Pradesh staged a 'dharna' on the road outside the premises after it was declared that Andhra would have its own High Court from January 1.
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.
While lawyers from Telangana celebrated the order and said that after close to five years, justice had finally been served and district courts in all 31 districts in the state would also soon be functional, lawyers from Andhra Pradesh were not pleased.
Speaking to reporters, the lawyers demanded that the Centre take back the gazette notification, and argued 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.
The lawyers asked for time until March, so that at least certain facilities like accommodation could be provided by the state government in Amaravati.
Meanwhile, Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar was appointed as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh with effect from January 1. He was 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.