Vijayawada: Calling the PIL challenging the proposal to set up a high court bench at Kurnool as “premature”, Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday said a committee has been constituted to submit a report by considering all aspects concerning the setting up of the HC bench and advised the petitioner to wait till the committee submits its report.
Advocates Thandava Yogesh and Turaga Sai Surya moved the high court with a PIL, contending that the process of setting up a high court bench should be initiated by the Chief Justice, not the state govt. In this case, the state govt sent a letter as if it has already made a decision to set up the HC bench at Kurnool, they stated. Arguing as a party in person, Yogesh said there were Supreme Court guidelines regarding the setting up of high court benches, which were in contravention of the full bench judgement of the high court and the Jaswant Singh Commission report submitted on April 30, 1985.
However, the high court bench headed by Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Ravi Cheemalapati observed that no decision has been taken yet on setting up a high court bench either at Kurnool or elsewhere. Stating that decision of the political executive is not binding on the high court, the bench said a committee is examining all aspects involved in the issue, and asked Yogesh to wait till it submits the report.
The high court further suggested Yogesh to approach them if he still felt aggrieved after the submission of the committee’s report. The bench said all issues raised in the petition will be kept open and added that nobody can encroach upon the independence of the high court. It would become an academic exercise at this stage as the committee has not come to a conclusion yet, and it might as well reject the proposal of setting up a bench at Kurnool, said the bench. At the request of Yogesh, the high court agreed to keep the petition alive and posted the matter for further hearing after three months.
