VIJAYAWADA: Stating that the issue of Andhra Pradesh's capital is sub-judice, the Centre on Wednesday said the previous government had notified Amaravati as the capital city of AP following a report submitted by the expert committee constituted by the Centre.
This was informed by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in the Rajya Sabha, responding to a question raised by YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy that whether the Centre unequivocally stated that it is up to the State to decide on its capital and the implication of this stance of the Centre in the wake of the recent verdict of the AP High Court to disallow the State government from establishing more than one capital.
The MoS said as per Sections 5 and 6 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Centre had constituted an expert committee to study alternatives for a new capital for the State of AP and sent its report to Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) for necessary action. “The AP government issued an order on April 23, 2015, notifying the capital city of Amaravati,’’ he explained.
Nityanand Rai said the State government had subsequently enacted the AP Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) (Repeal) Act, 2020 and AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions (APDIDAR) Act, 2020, which provided that there shall be three Seats of Governance in Andhra Pradesh — Amaravati as Legislative Capital, Visakhapatnam as Executive Capital and Kurnool as Judicial Capital.
The minister added that the State government had not consulted the Centre while enacting the Acts.
It may be recalled that Amaravati farmers and others had challenged the enactment of the Act to set up three capitals as part of the decentralised development plan of the State government in the Andhra Pradesh High Court and the court had said the State government lacked the competence to shift the capital from Amaravati.
The High Court also directed the State government to complete the construction of the capital city in six months. The State government had gone for an appeal against the High Court verdict in the Supreme Court and a hearing of the same is likely to be held on February 23.
In the reply, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs mentioned the same. “The Government of Andhra Pradesh has filed a Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) against the judgement of the High Court of AP in the matter. Presently, the matter is sub-judice,’’ the Union minister replied.
Union Minister replies to Vijayasai’s question
Responding to a question raised by YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy in the Rajya Sabha on Amaravati, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai stated, “The Government of AP has filed a Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) against the judgement of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in the matter. Presently, the matter is sub-judice.’’