After several years of delay, Andhra Pradesh will finally have its own High Court in Amaravati. President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday issued a gazette notification for the functioning of the new High Court in Amaravati with effect from January 1.
The new High Court for Andhra Pradesh will be the 25th High Court in the country. The new Andhra HC is expected to function from a temporary structure in the state's capital till a permanent building is set up at the 'Justice City' being planned in Amaravati.
The notification reads, “In pursuance of article 214 of the Constitution and the Order issued by the Supreme Court of India and in exercise of powers conferred under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 30, sub-section (1) of section 31 and sub-section (2) of section 31 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, the President hereby constitutes a separate High Court for the State of Andhra Pradesh, namely,the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, from the 1st day of January, 2019 with the principal seat of such High Court at Amaravati in the State of Andhra Pradesh and the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad shall become the High Court for the State of Telangana.”
Earlier this year, the Centre had challenged a judgement of the Hyderabad HC in the Supreme Court, which had said that the permanent HC for Andhra must be constructed within the state only. The Centre had claimed that as Hyderabad was the common capital of both states for 10 years and the delay in bifurcation was causing several problems, a temporary HC could be established in the city as there was enough infrastructure.
However, in November this year, the Supreme Court gave the green signal to the Andhra Pradesh government to issue a notification for the bifurcation of the existing High Court in Hyderabad, so that a separate HC for the state can be hosted in Amaravati. The Andhra government in its response said that the temporary accommodation could also be arranged in its own upcoming capital. The bifurcation will take place according to guidelines laid down in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
The Supreme Court bench had then said, "We expect such a notification to be issued by January 1, 2019, so that the two High Courts start functioning separately and High Court of Andhra Pradesh also starts functioning in the new building at the earliest.”