The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a writ petition seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged illegalities in the identification and bloated cost of construction of the new Andhra Pradesh capital city of Amravati by the Chandrababu Naidu government.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur dismissed the petition filed by senior journalist A.B. K. Prasad alleging nepotism, high-handedness on the part of public representatives and government officials towards farmers whose agricultural fields were damaged.
Seeking transfer to CBI
It sought the transfer of investigation of cases registered regarding damage to agricultural fields from the Andhra Pradesh Police to the CBI.
The petition sought investigation into large-scale black money circulation in purchase of lands in A.P. Capital Region Development Authority area and demanded the appointment of an expert committee, preferably headed by a retired Judge along with the experts of town planning, environment, social, agriculture and economic fields, to study the feasibility of proposed Capital City in an eco-sensitive zone.
It sought a direction from the court to direct the State to provide compensation for the farmers, agricultural labour, artisans who lost their livelihood due to clearing of agriculture activity in the capital region.
The petition listed the casualties of Amravati as 15 lakh acres of fertile lands, livelihood for workers dependent on agriculture, food security, public money in thousands of crores, floodplains, protection of the River Krishna and the large number of villages and towns in the river basin.
Mr. Prasad argued that the present proposal of the capital city was against the provisions of the States Reorganisation Act 2014 and against the recommendations of the expert committee appointed by the Union of India.
It said that as per Section 94 (3) of the Reorganisation Act, the Government of India would provide “special financial support for the creation of essential facilities in the new capital of Andhra Pradesh State, including, the Raj Bhavan, High Court, Government Secretariat, Legislative Assembly, Legislative Council, and such other essential infrastructure.”
