AP has proposed shifting of HC to Kurnool: Centre

VIJAYAWADA: Union law and justice minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday clarified that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had submitted a proposal for shifting the principal seat of Andhra Pradesh High Court from the Amaravati capital region to Kurnool.

He was replying to a question by BJP member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao in the Rajya Sabha.

In a unstarred question, Narasimha Rao wanted to know if the state government had proposed shifting of the High Court to Kurnool and if the Union government had given its consent. He also sought to know about the procedure and the stakeholders involved before taking a call on the issue.

He asked whether there was a proposal to set up benches in other cities and the present status of the state government’s request for relocation of the High Court to Kurnool and its time-frame. He wanted to know if the ministry would recognise Kurnool as legal capital once it happens.

The minister replied that the High Court with a principal seat at Amaravati had been functioning from January 1, 2019. He stated that the Chief Minister proposed shifting of the principal seat to Kurnool in February last year. Prasad clarified that there is no proposal for setting up High Court benches in other cities.

Prasad said that shifting of the principal seat is decided by the state government in consultation with the High Court. He explained that the state government is responsible for meeting the expenditure of running the High Court. He said that in the present instance, both the state government and High Court of Andhra Pradesh have to decide on the court’s shifting. He clarified that no time-frame is laid down for such proposals. He pointed out that the matter was sub-judice.