Even as the proposed formation of three capitals for Andhra Pradesh is still caught in a legal wrangle, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government is said to be taking the first step towards formation of the judicial capital at Kurnool.
According to sources, the state government is contemplating shifting of Andhra Pradesh state human rights commission (APSHRC) from Hyderabad to Kurnool, which has been proposed to be developed as the judicial capital.
While almost all the offices of Andhra Pradesh have been shifted from Hyderabad, the common capital of both the Telugu states till 2014, to different parts in and around Amaravati, including Vijayawada and Guntur, a few offices are still operating from Hyderabad.
One such office is that of state human rights commission. Since no office building and other facilities were not provided to the commission during the previous Chandrababu Naidu regime and also the present Jagan Mohan Reddy regime, the office is still running from Hyderabad.
During a recent observation, the state high court wondered why some offices were still operating from Hyderabad, though the entire administration moved to Andhra Pradesh. It directed that the government take steps to shift the remaining offices as well to AP.
Following the high court directions, the Jagan government has quickly acted and decided to shift the APSHRC office. Since there is no specific direction that it should be moved only to Vijayawada, it proposed to shift the HRC office to Kurnool.
This is being viewed as the first step in shifting of judicial capital to Kurnool, as HRC is also a quasi-judicial body headed by a retired high court judge.
The officials are looking for a suitable building in Kurnool and the shifting will be done within two or three weeks, sources said.
It remains to be seen whether any other offices would be shifted to the executive capital of Visakhapatnam as well.