Andhra Pradesh to get separate High Court in Amaravati

On November 5, a Supreme Court bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan gave green signal for issuing a notification with regard to setting up a separate High Court at Andhra Pradesh in Amaravati. With this move, there will be 25 high courts in India.

The new HC is expected to function from a temporary structure in the state's capital till a permanent building is set up at the 'Justice City' being planned in Amaravati.

The bench observed, "We expect such a notification to be issued by January 1, 2019 so that the two High Courts start functioning separately and High Court of Andhra Pradesh also starts functioning in the new building at Amaravati at the earliest."

This decision for setting up a separate high court arose from a case wherein the Centre had filed an appeal challenging the 2015 judgment of the HC Division Bench headed by then Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta which ruled that the high court for AP, whether temporary or permanent, should be set up only on the territory of AP state. In response, the government of Andhra Pradesh had said that the temporary accommodation could also be arranged in its own upcoming capital.

The state told the court that the building where the Andhra Pradesh High Court would be temporarily shifted would be ready by December 15.

The bench then said, "It is clear that the Centre, Telangana, and AP want two High Courts. It is also clear that the Judges of the High Court, who would become Judges of High Court of Andhra Pradesh, are satisfied with the facilities in the said building inasmuch as Full Court of the High Court has approved the proposal after Inspection Committee of Judges submitted a report in this behalf."

The bench added, ‘‘In Amaravati, Justice City is under construction where the High Court and subordinate courts and even some tribunals would be accommodated and there is a provision for the construction of residential complex for the Judges of the High Court and judicial officers of the subordinate courts.”

Notably, the bifurcation will be conducted as per the guidelines provided in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.