New HC complex: AP government hints at making Amaravati judicial capital

Vijayawada, December 14: Andhra Pradesh government has dropped hints of making Amaravati a judicial capital after it gave go-ahead for the construction of the new AP high court building.

Chief justice Prashant Kumar Mishra laid the foundation stone for the additional building of the high court on Monday. The new building would come up on the north side of the present complex.

It may be recalled that the government recently withdrew the three capitals bills in the assembly. Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said that bills would be reintroduced in a better format, but he did not elaborate.

He referred to the Sri Bagh pact of 1953 when Andhra Pradesh state was carved out from composite Madras presidency.

According to the pact, the Rayalaseema region was to be made capital and a high court was to come up in the coastal region.

Jagan is committed to the decentralized development of the state. Sources said he is considering the proposal to keep the high court in Amaravati and make it the judicial capital. He plans to shift the assembly to Kurnool and make it the legislative capital while shifting the executive (secretariat) to Vizag city as per his original plans.

The AP government has granted Rs 33.5 crore to construct the additional building at Nowluru in Amaravati, where the high court is functioning now. The shifting of the high court to Kurnool could have been a long and tedious process involving the nod of the central government, the Supreme Court, and the President.

The high court had also questioned the prerogative of the government in deciding its location. The court was hearing the batch of petitions challenging the trifurcation of Amaravati.

Considering all these aspects, the chief minister is learned to have decided to retain the high court in Amaravati and declare it as the judicial capital, while having the legislature in Kurnool and executive in Visakhapatnam.