VIJAYAWADA: Advocate General S Sriram on Monday informed the Andhra Pradesh High Court that the State government withdrew The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Act 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive development of all regions Act 2020 — and a decision to this effect was taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
He informed the court that Minister for Finance and Legislative Affairs Buggana Rajendranath introduced the Bill to withdraw those two Acts in the State Legislative Assembly and said a memo explaining the objective of the Bills and other details will be submitted to the Court. Taking cognisance of the matter, the High Court directed him to submit the memo by Friday and adjourned the case hearing to November 29. Further action on the issue will be decided on that day, the court said.
On Monday, the sixth day of the ongoing hearing on the batch of petitions challenging the two Acts, senior advocate Jandyala Ravishankar was arguing on behalf his client before a three-member division bench headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra when the Advocate General Sriram suddenly stood up and sought permission of the bench to speak.
He informed the Court that the State Cabinet resolved to withdraw two legislations — The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Act 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive development of all regions Act 2020 — and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will make an announcement in the Assembly shortly. The AG’s announcement took everyone in the court hall by surprise and no one had a clue as to what was happening. The Chief Justice and two other judges adjourned the hearing to evening. The issue became a hot topic of discussion outside the court.
When the hearing resumed at 2:15, the AG informed the court that in half-an-hour, an official announcement will be made. Responding to it, the bench directed him to file a detailed memo. Intervening, Shyam Divan, counsel for one of the petitioners, said that they would respond after examining the Bills and urged the Court to adjourn the case for some time. However, the Court said it would resume hearing in the case next week.
Another advocate Unnam Muralidhar Rao said that both the Acts were not being withdrawn totally, as evident from the minister’s comments in the media. However, the bench said media announcements have nothing to do with the case and pointed out that the AG has clearly explained the Cabinet resolution. When advocate Vasireddy Prabhunath said the government was dictating the court and there is no clarity in the AG’s statement, the court observed there was no need to speak about those issues now.
Senior advocate A Satyaprasad said those two acts are being withdrawn only to hinder the hearing on the petitions. The court said it goes by the evidence before it. At this juncture, the AG said the Bill repealing the Acts was introduced in the Assembly.
High Court posted hearing on pleas to November 29
Taking cognisance of the matter, the High Court directed him to submit a memo by Friday and adjourned the case hearing to November 29. Further action on the issue will be decided on that day, it said.