A full bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra adjourned all the three capitals cases to December 27 in order to have a clear picture on A.P. Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Repeal Bill of 2021 which is awaiting the Governor's assent.
Advocate-General S. Sriram argued that there cannot be a pre-emptive adjudication of any issues by the High Court at this stage as they were in the domain of the Legislature.
He insisted the court could not accept the contention of the petitioners about the continued relevance of their writ petitions until
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Representing the petitioners, senior advocates Shyam Divan, Jandhyala Ravi Shankar and B. Adinarayana Rao said not only the State's legislative but also it's executive competence should be taken note of from the perspective of the Union, State and Concurrent lists of the Constitution.
Some other counsels said the Decentralization and CRDA Repeal Acts of 2020 were withdrawn for the purpose of disabling the High Court from proceeding further. Moreover, the government made clear its intention to revert with a fresh Bill on decentralization.
Chief Justice Mishra rejected the argument by saying that parties to a litigation could always decide its course in accordance with law and pointed out that the Bill for repeal of the principal Acts was presented after the same was informed to the High Court.
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The petitioners' advocates appealed that the court should undertake an adjudication whether the legislature has the competence to change the capital. They maintained that the Legislature does not have the power to bring the decentralisation Act, therefore, repealing the same was also not in its powers.