VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday directed the State government to submit a status report on the progress of works taken up in the State capital as directed by it in an earlier verdict on Amaravati issue.
Hearing a contempt petition against the State government filed by Amaravati farmers Done Sambasiva Rao and Tati Srinivas Rao, a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy and Justice DVSS Somayajulu, directed the government to file a counter and posted the matter to July 12.
Arguing on behalf of the petitioners, advocate Unnam Muralidhar Rao said the High Court on March 3 had directed the State government to develop the capital region in six months, but till now not even a single work has been taken up. “They have just filed an affidavit, stating that development is a continuous process and requested the court to remove the deadline. They have not even filed supplementary petitions seeking more time,” he argued.
When the advocate started mentioning the comments of ruling party leaders in the media on the issue, the bench intervened and said what was said in the media is not important and all that matters is whether orders issued are carried out or not.
The bench said comments of the court could be criticised without attributing motives to the judges. When Advocate General S Sriram objected to the Chief Minister is made a respondent in the case, he was advised to read the court order first and respond.