HYDERABAD: Finding fault in the 2015 judgment of the Hyderabad High Court, the Central government told the Supreme Court of India that under the provisions of the AP Reorganization Act, 2014 there is no bar on having two divided High Courts (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) in one building/premises of the same city until construction and constitution of a new High Court within the territory of Andhra Pradesh.
In this regard, the Centre, represented by secretary to ministry of law and justice, filed the special leave petition (SLP) before the Apex Court challenging the verdict of the High Court division bench headed by the then Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta which ruled that the High Court for Andhra Pradesh, whether temporary or permanent, can be set up only on the territory of Andhra Pradesh.
The Centre said that the High Court bench erred in holding that the constitution of High Court for Andhra Pradesh state in any part of the Telangana state, including Hyderabad, would be an action not permitted by law. In fact, the bench failed to appreciate that an amount of Rs 500 crore was released to Andhra Pradesh on March 31, 2015 for construction of Raj Bhavan, High Court, Secretariat and Assembly, however till date no effective steps for construction of the same has been taken by the Andhra Pradesh state, it noted.
The SLP is expected to come up for hearing before the Apex Court on August 31.