Shifting judicial offices to Kurnool only temporary?

[Anta Assamey]

The Andhra Pradesh high court on Tuesday refused to grant stay on the shifting of judicial offices like Lok Ayuktha and State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) from Hyderabad to Kurnool, instead of to Amaravati.

The high court gave the ruling in response to a batch of petitions questioning the shifting of judicial offices to Kurnool, instead of Amaravati where all the executive, judicial and legislative offices are located at present.

However, the high court clarified that the shifting of the judicial offices to Kurnool was subject to the final judgement on the three capitals issue. 

If the verdict is against the three capitals and for retention of the capital city at Amaravati, all the judicial offices should be relocated to Amaravati, it asserted and posted the hearing to five weeks later.

The petitioner questioned the shifting of judicial offices like Lok Ayuktha, Upa Lok Ayuktha, SHRC, Women’s Commission etc from Hyderabad to Kurnool, at a time when the high court was still hearing the case against three capitals’ issue.

“Though Kurnool has been designated as the judicial capital by the present government, it has been challenged in the court of law. Unless the issue is settled, shifting of judicial offices from Hyderabad to Kurnool is arbitrary. They have to be located in Amaravati or Vijayawada, till the case is disposed of,” the petitioners argued.

However, advocate general Subrahmanyam Sriram argued that the gazette notification for shifting of judicial offices to Kurnool was done as per the high court orders. 

He said the activities of Lok Ayuktha had already commenced in Kurnool.

“In 2017, the then government issued a notification relocating SHRC office from Hyderabad to Amaravati only on paper without making any attempt to shift the office. Now, the present government rectified such discrepancies and issued fresh notifications,” the advocate general said.

The high court refused to grant stay on the shifting of offices to Kurnool and also rejected the request of the petitioners to make the Centre as well as YSR Congress party as parties to the case. 

However, it said the shifting of offices is only temporary, subject to the final orders on the three capitals issue.