Demanding establishment of the A.P. High Court at Kurnool, advocates boycotted the district court and 12 magistrate courts in the district on Friday and took out a rally to the Collectorate on a call given by the Kurnool District Bar Association.
The association would make a representation on the issue to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was likely to visit the district on January 22, its president Nagalakshmi Devi, who led the protest, said. Representations would be given to important leaders of all the political parties urging them to exert pressure on the State government in this regard, she added.
As the State capital was set up at Amaravati in the coastal Andhra region, the High Court had to be set up at Kurnool in the Rayalaseema region, in accordance with the Shribagh Pact dating back to 1937, which stipulated that the capital and High Court should be located in different regions, Ms. Nagalakshmi Devi said. The Sivaramakrishna Committee had recommended in 2014 for decentralisation of power, government institutions, industries and educational institutions to ensure equitable development of all the regions, she said.
When Kurnool was made the State capital in 1953, the High Court was set up at Guntur, though none had asked for it, she said. There was no constitutional provision to set up the High Court in the State capital. Several States such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Kerala and Gujarat did not have the High Courts in their capitals, the bar association president maintained.
Writ petition
The Allagadda Bar Association had already filed a writ petition in the High Court on location of the A.P. High Court and the Kurnool District Bar Association would also file a writ petition on the issue, she said.
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