High Court at Kurnool to benefit Telangana lawyers

Hyderabad: The proposal of AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to shift the AP High Court from Guntur to Kurnool would certainly benefit lawyers based in Hyderabad.

Though there is mixed response from the lawyer fraternity, they are by and large happy with the move.

Mr N. Ranga Reddy, a practicing advocate in the AP and Telangana High Courts, said there was an agreement under the Sri Bagh pact to have the High Court at Kurnool. People from Rayalaseema have been demanding a High Court at Kurnool for decades.

He said that Rayalaseema was the most backward region and a High Court at Kurnool would pave the way for the development of the region.

Mr M.V. Raja Ram, a senior advocate and president of the AP Lawyers Association, pointed out that Guntur is a centrally located place for the state's regions and having the principal bench at Guntur and setting up two circuit benches at Kurnool and Vizag would help litigants.

He felt that if the High Court is located at Kurnool, litigants from Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts would face difficulties because Kurnool is more than 1,000 away. He said, “If the government doesn’s want to continue the principal bench at Guntur, it should at least set up a bench at Visakhapatnam.”

A senior lawyer said: “Having a High Court at Kurnool will certainly have advantages for senior counsels. It takes four to five hours to reach Amaravati from Hyderabad. If it is in Kurnool, we will reach in two hours.”

He said senior counsels and TS advocates who had more clients from AP will certainly welcome the decision as they could practice at both courts due to the proximity of Kurnool and Hyderabad.

Mr Bhaskar Pouluri, another advocate, said “We have invested huge amounts in setting up our offices in Amaravati. If the government shifts the court to Kurnool, we will have to again mobilise resources to set up the office in Kurnool.”

He felt the government has to look into the option of having a circuit bench at Kurnool instead shifting the principal bench. The advocates of the coastal districts, particularly from Krishna, Guntur and West Godavari, said they would agitate against the move.