india

Updated: Dec 20, 2018 20:03 IST

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will have separate high courts, most likely from April 7. This was conveyed to a delegation of Telangana Rashtra Samithi MPs led by Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao’s daughter and Nizamabad MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha, which called on Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravishankar Prasad a couple of days ago and submitted a fresh representation on the high court division issue.

According to sources in the TRS, President of India Ramnath Kovind is likely to issue a notification in a day or two, announcing creation of a separate high court for the state of Andhra Pradesh.

“Most likely, April 7 is going to be the appointed date for the bifurcation of the high court. The new high court at Amaravati will start functioning from the same date, which coincides with Ugadi, the Telugu New Year Day,” a TRS leader said.

It will be the 25th high court in the country and will initially function from a temporary premises being constructed in Amaravati, which will be ready in a couple of months.

The Andhra Pradesh government has already started the construction of Justice City in the new capital. All the allotted staff and judges will be shifted to the temporary premises before the appointed date.

At present, Hyderabad high court has been serving as the common high court for both the Telugu states, though according to Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, both the Telugu states formed on June 2, 2014, should have separate high courts at the earliest.

“Bifurcation of high court has been one of the 52 issues pending with the Centre for the last four years. It was only after the intervention of the Supreme Court that the process got expedited,” the TRS leader said.

According to a senior high court lawyer T Sriranga Rao, the judges of the high court have already given their options for being allotted to the two states. The other judicial officers and supporting staff would also be divided between the two high courts, as per the options given by them.

“The total strength of judges in the combined high court is 42, of which only 29 judges are working now. They would be divided in the ratio of 58:42 between AP and Telangana, as per the bifurcation act,” he said.

The proposed Justice City complex will have high court and subordinate courts, besides tribunals. It will also have residential complex for the Judges of the high court and judicial officers of the subordinate courts.