Mixed feelings as HC gets down to work

Moving ‘case bundles’ from Hyderabad a cause for worry

Transition blues: Advocates on their way to the High Court, in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) began functioning from its temporary premises at the CM’s camp office on Monday amidst mixed feelings among the legal fraternity of coming back to what is now the capital region after nearly 65 years and being deprived of enough time to shift to Vijayawada.

The advocates are apparently dissatisfied with the not-so-good infra and are sceptical of the timely completion of the judicial complex at Nelapadu in Guntur district where the court would be accommodated till the permanent HC complex nearby gets ready . The time and effort involved in physically moving a huge number of ‘case bundles’ from Hyderabad is a major cause for worry.

Nevertheless, as per the Presidential Order , the HC started operating with a formal address to 13 judges by Acting Chief Justice C. Praveen Kumar and the judges then getting down to work in the chambers and court halls allotted to them. Court No. 1 headed by Chief Justice Praveen Kumar and Justice M. Satyanarayana Murthy had 19 fresh matters listed consisting of petitions related to the municipal administration and urban development , prohibition and excise, revenue and cooperation departments among others.

All India Lawyers’ Union State general secretary N. Srinivasa Rao told

The Hindu that more than a lakh cases were to be adjudicated by the HC and only quick transportation of the case bundles would help in a prompt listing. He said the court halls and even the judges’ rooms were congested but he would not raise a hue and cry about it because the adjustment had to be made during the transition period. Apart from the concern about getting accustomed to the new place and finding accommodation, many advocates appeared to be pleased with the arrangements.

‘Better ambience’

“In a way this is better than the one in Hyderabad. The landscaping and ambience make us feel comfortable and also gives us a look into how good the actual complex in Amaravati would be,” said a former government pleader and senior counsel A.V. Sivaiah. “For a temporary facility, the arrangements are more than satisfactory and this being the camp office of the CM in the past feels secure . We are already prepared to cope,” said government pleader attached to Advocate General K.A. Narasimham taking a stroll along the plantations. On the other hand, finding space for parking vehicles turned into a Herculean task for visitors.

While the vehicles of the judges and other senior officers were parked inside the HC compound, all other vehicles had to be confined to the road margins.