AP, Telangana to have common HC until new court is established

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court said here on Friday that as long as a separate high court is not constituted for Andhra Pradesh, the present high court here would be common to both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, observed while disposing of a writ petition, that as per provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, the existing high court at Hyderabad would become the exclusive high court of Telangana state and a separate high court has to be created for Andhra Pradesh, that too only after the AP government kept ready the basic infrastructure to set it up.

Under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, the central government has assured financial assistance for provision of basic requirements for a new state like a state capital city, a secretariat and a high court.

The bench directed the central government to fulfill its financial commitments to Andhra Pradesh.

It said that a separate Andhra Pradesh High Court ought to be located in the territory of Andhra Pradesh alone, though there could be separate circuit benches to cater to the needs of Andhra Pradesh.

In March this year, Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda had said that the Centre would move quickly to establish a separate high court for Telangana if the government gave infrastructure and basic facilities to establish the same.

At present, the Hyderabad High Court, (the High Court of judicature at Hyderabad for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh) is the common high court for both the states. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, passed by Parliament last year, includes a provision for a separate High Court for Telangana state.