HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court bench has said since all the requirements stand fulfilled, there is no embargo for the competent authority (Central government) to issue a notification bifurcating the existing Hyderabad High Court into HC of Telangana and HC of Andhra Pradesh.
“We expect such a notification will 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 Amaravati which would be ready by Dec 15, 2018) at the earliest”, the bench said.
The bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan was passing this order recently following an appeal filed by the Central government challenging the 2015 judgment of the High Court division bench headed by then Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta that the high court for AP, whether temporary or permanent, should be set up only on the territory of AP State.
On earlier occasion, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Telangana, submitted that the State government was ready to provide a separate building in Hyderabad city itself for the HC of AP till such time as the AP government made arrangements for its own building in Amaravati. At this juncture, senior counsel Fali S Nariman, appearing for AP, informed the court that the makeshift building in Amaravati for housing AP HC was almost ready and would be completed by Dec 15 this year.
After hearing the case and perusing the material on record, the bench said it was clear that the Union of India, Telangana as well as AP wanted creation of two High Courts as early as possible. Even the affidavit filed by the Hyderabad High Court stated that the full court approved the proposal of the judges’ committee for construction of an interim judicial complex to house the high court till a permanent structure was ready at ‘Justice City’ being constructed to accommodate the high court, subordinate courts and some tribunals. The bench disposed of the appeal saying that it expects that the Centre would issue a notification by Jan 1 next year to facilitate both the high courts start functioning separately and the new AP HC also starts functioning in the new building at Amaravati.