The Andhra Pradesh high court on Friday scrapped the YSR Congress party government’s order seeking to shift the offices of the Vigilance Commissioner and the Commissioner of Enquiries to Kurnool on the pretext of administrative convenience.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice GK Maheswari and Justice N Jayasurya, asked the government to suspend the GO on the ground that the it could not do so when petitions opposing the shifting of the capital from Amaravati are pending before the court.
Notwithstanding the directions of the Andhra Pradesh high court against shifting of government offices from Amaravati till the cases pending in the court are disposed of, the YSR Congress party government has quietly began the exercise.
On January 1, chief secretary Neelam Sawhney issued the GO directing shifting of the office of the Vigilance Commissioner from Interim Government Complex, Secretariat at Velagapudi to Kurnool.
Along with Vigilance Commissioner’s Office, the offices of Chairman of Commissionerate of Inquires and also that of the Member(s) Commissioner of Inquires functioning at Velagapudi would also be shifted to Kurnool.
The chief secretary directed that the Engineer-in-Chief, (R&B) and the Collector and District Magistrate, Kurnool shall take necessary steps for identifying suitable buildings at Kurnool to relocate the above offices immediately.
The high court was acting on a batch of petitions filed by a farmer Kondepati Giridhar from Talayapalem in Guntur district and Tirupati Rao, secretary of the Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti.
The high court did not agree with the arguments of Advocate General S Sriram argued that shifting the offices is a policy decision and that there was not enough space for these offices and hence the decision to shift them to Kurnool.
However, the bench was not convinced and questioned why couldn’t permanent offices be constructed in the land available locally.
Now one wonders whether the latest high court order casts a shadow on the Jagan government’s plan to shift the administrative capital to Visakhapatnam.
There is every possibility that the court might stall the shifting of Secretariat to Visakhapatnam citing the same grounds, as the petitions against capital shift are pending in the court.
Moreover, the three capitals’ bills have not been passed by the state legislature, as they hit the road block in the state legislative council.
The government cannot move further unless the council is abolished by the Centre and fresh bills on the capital shift are passed in the assembly, say sources.
It remains to be seen what Jagan would do now.