After much dithering on the High Court (HC) verdict in the three capitals case for over six months, the Andhra Pradesh (AP) government has at last challenged it in the Supreme Court in the form of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) on Saturday at a time when speculation is rife that a fresh Bill on decentralisation will be filed in the ongoing monsoon session of the State Legislature.
The government appealed to the apex court to stay the HC order dated March 3, 2022, wherein a full Bench comprising Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justices M. Satyanarayana Murthy and D.V.S.S. Somayajulu ruled that the Legislature has no competence to enact any law for shifting the three organs of the capital (under the guise of decentralisation).
The HC had, in its order of continuous mandamus, also directed the State and AP-Capital Region Development Authority to complete the process of development of Amaravati capital city and region in a specific timeframe.
In the SLP, which is likely to be listed next week, the government contended that the impugned judgement was in violation of the basic structure of the Constitution as the HC cannot hold that the State does not have the powers to decide on its capital.
The judgement was against the doctrine of separation of powers as it sought to preempt the legislature from taking up the issue (of three capitals).
The government said the issue had become infructuous since the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions and CRDA Repeal Acts of 2020 were withdrawn.
Further, it is argued that under the federal structure of the Constitution, every State has an inherent right to determine where it should carry out its capital functions from.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi had filed a contempt petition in the HC and an SLP in the apex court with a plea to control the State’s executive power by directing it not to indulge in wastage of public money that was spent in Amaravati to the tune of roughly ₹52,850 crore.
