The Supreme Court has stayed the order by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which was issued in March, directing the state government to develop Amaravati as the capital city within six months. A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said, “Courts cannot become a town planner and Chief Engineer". The top court found the directions issued by the high court to have overstepped the “separation of power” principle.
The bench was hearing an appeal filed by the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government. The court said that it will examine the legal questions involved in the matter on January 31. The bench said, “Is there no separation of power in the state of Andhra Pradesh. How can high court begin acting as executive,” referring to the March 3 order by which the state was directed to “construct and develop Amaravati capital city and capital region within six months’ time”.
The high court had further ordered the state government and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority to complete the process of development and infrastructure in the Amaravati capital city and region providing basic amenities like roads, drinking water, drainage, electricity within a period of one month.
The state government had moved the Supreme Court in September against the high court order that stalled its ambitious three-capital plan for the state. “To hold that the state does not have the power to decide on its capital is violative of the basic structure of the Constitution,” the state said in its appeal filed through advocate Mahfooz A Nazki.
{{/usCountry}}The state government had moved the Supreme Court in September against the high court order that stalled its ambitious three-capital plan for the state. “To hold that the state does not have the power to decide on its capital is violative of the basic structure of the Constitution,” the state said in its appeal filed through advocate Mahfooz A Nazki.
{{/usCountry}}The state government had made it clear that it was committed to the decentralisation of governance by forming three capitals – executive capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool. It had stressed that it had all the powers to reorganise its capital.
In its 307 pages-long March 3 order, the high court had said that all three civic wings of the state — legislature, executive and judiciary — will have Amaravati as the common capital. This was followed by a slew of pleas filed by the landowners who had given up their agricultural land in the Land Pooling scheme for development of the capital city and the capital region.
The petitioner landowners had challenged the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Act, 2020, and the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, before the High Court by which the state wanted to change Amaravati as the capital of the state. This law was repealed by the state when the hearing was going on and the same was informed to the high court. The state had alleged that once withdrawn, the HC could not have proceeded ahead.