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.
