Andhra assembly adopts resolution on establishment of HC bench in Kurnool

The Andhra Pradesh state assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution seeking to establish a high court bench at Kurnool, which has been a long pending demand of the people of Rayalaseema region

The Andhra Pradesh state assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution seeking to establish a high court bench at Kurnool, which has been a long pending demand of the people of Rayalaseema region.

The law secretary said the high court bench at Kurnool would provide a big relief for the people of Rayalaseema which has eight districts, as they are facing difficulty in coming all the way to Amaravati to attend their court cases (File photo)

Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu moved the resolution in the assembly which was adopted unanimously by the members through a voice vote. The copy of the resolution would be sent to the high court and the central government for approval, he said.

“The establishment of the high court bench in Kurnool was one of the promises made by the Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance during the last elections. The state cabinet approved the decision at its meeting on Wednesday,” he said.

He said the offices of Lok Ayuktha and state human rights commission would continue in Kurnool and they won’t be shifted to Amaravati, as alleged by the opposition YSR Congress Party, which misled people in the name of three capitals.

“The previous government created an uncertainty in the state in the name of three capitals with judicial capital at Kurnool. But we convinced the people that Amaravati will remain the state capital and Kurnool will get a full-fledged high court bench,” he explained.

People familiar with the matter said the Naidu government had already written to the state high court seeking its consent for the establishment of high court bench in Kurnool.

State law secretary V Sunitha wrote a letter to the high court registrar to place the proposal before the full bench of the high court, which is the competent authority to decide on the high court bench.

The decision could be forwarded to the Union law ministry for further steps.

In her letter, the law secretary said the high court bench at Kurnool would provide a big relief for the people of Rayalaseema which has eight districts, as they are facing difficulty in coming all the way to Amaravati to attend their court cases. “While there is no direct train facility from Kurnool to Vijayawada and only one train from YSR Kadapa district, it is causing a lot of inconvenience to the people,” she said.

She also asked for the details pertaining to number of cases pending in the state high court pertaining to Rayalaseema region.

If the region accounts for more than 1/3 of the total cases being dealt by the high court, the demand for a separate bench is justified, she said.

Sunitha pointed out that already seven states in the country had separate high court benches in other regions within the states. Maharashtra has the principal bench of the high court at Mumbai and other benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Panaji.

Similarly, Uttar Pradesh has principal bench at Allahabad and another bench in Lucknow; Madhya Pradesh has principal bench at Jabalpur and benches at Indore and Gwalior.

Rajasthan has principal bench at Jodhpur and bench at Jaipur; Karnataka has principal bench at Bengaluru and benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi; Tamil Nadu has principal bench at Chennai and bench at Maduri and Assam has principal bench at Guwahati, while it has separate benches at Aizawl, Kohima and Itanagar.

Jharkhand has principal bench at Ranchi and another bench is being set up at Dumka.