Hyderabad, October 09: The Andhra Joint Action Committee (AJAC) has urged chief minister K Rosaiah to take measures to constitute a High Court bench at Guntur, keeping in view the travails of litigant public.
A delegation of Andhra JAC led by its convener Sunkarana Krishnamurthy submitted a memorandum to the chief minister at his camp office last night. In a statement released here, the JAC demanded that either High Court be shifted from Hyderabad to Guntur immediately as per the Gentlemen Agreement, 1956 or constitute at least three High Court benches at Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Kurnool in Andhra region.
“The AP government conceded the Telangana Advocates JAC’s unjust demand of 42 per cent quota in judicial appointments in Telangana as per the Gentlemen Agreement 1956 but we will support their demands only after shifting High Court from Hyderabad to Guntur as per the same agreement,” Andhra JAC said.
The Andhra JAC contended that as per the terms of the agreement capital should be shifted from Kurnool to Hyderabad and the seat of High Court should remain as the High Court of composite AP. “But it was shifted from Guntur to Hyderabad in violation of the agreement and much against the wishes of people of Andhra at that time,” the JAC said.
“Though advocates from coastal area had boycotted courts for 133 days in 1993-94 demanding setting up of a High Court bench between Vijayawada and Guntur, it is yet to materialise,” the JAC lamented.
The chief minister promised them to write to the chief justice of the High Court for constituting a bench in Andhra area, after consulting members of cabinet, political parties and the governor.
When Rosaiah asked them to get letters from all parties’ presidents in this regard, the JAC clarified to him that all parties had agreed for the same.
–Agencies