Supreme Court issues notice to Andhra Pradesh on Odisha contempt plea

The Odisha government’s contempt plea accuses Andhra Pradesh of holding local body polls in three villages falling within its territory

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Andhra Pradesh chief secretary, state election commissioner and district collector, Vizianagaram, on a contempt petition filed by the Odisha government accusing Andhra Pradesh of holding local body polls in three villages falling within its territory.

Supreme Court. (HT archive)

In the contempt plea, Odisha informed the court that the three villages where elections are to be held this Saturday fall within Odisha . These villages form part of 21 villages in respect of which a suit was filed in 1968 by Odisha before Supreme Court. A status quo order passed by the court still binds the two states, Odisha said in its contempt petition and hence alleged that the recent action of AP was in violation of the status quo granted on December 2, 1968.

A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Aniruddha Bose issued notice on the petition. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Odisha, informed the Court that elections are due tomorrow.

The bench said, “Whatever consequences will flow from our order will flow.” For Andhra Pradesh government, advocate Mahfooz Nazki appeared and sought to raise objections on the filing of contempt petition by Odisha.

The bench allowed AP to raise all objections in its response and listed the matter for hearing next Friday.

The elections under challenge were notified by district collector, Vizianagaram, in March 2020. The Odisha government named Collector Muda Hari Jawaharlal along with chief secretary Adityanath Das and state election commissioner N Ramesh Kumar as contemnors.

The petition said, “The said notification issued by contemnor 1 (Muda Hari Jawaharlal) in unison with contemnors 2 and 3 (chief secretary and SEC) is to invade into the territory of petitioner state at the cost of wilful violation of this Court’s order… Administratively and otherwise, the state of Odisha has been in control of these villages throughout. However, of late, clandestinely the contemnors have entered into the impugned act of contempt by which this court’s order has been violated,” the contempt petition said.

Odisha government has said that the three villages falling in Koraput have been shown as part of Salur panchayat mandal of Vizianagaram by changing their original names from Ganjaipader, Phattusenary, and Phagusenary to Ganjaibadra, Pattuchennuru and Phaguluchennuru, respectively.