VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday heard a batch of petitions challenging the state government’s decision to shift the camp offices to Visakhapatnam.
Recently, the state government issued GO-2283 for providing office space for senior functionaries, including ministers at the Millenium Towers A & B at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam. The GO was issued on the recommendations of the commerce of officers constituted for shift of capital.
The GO was challenged in the high court by Gadde Tirupathi Rao, Managing Trustee of Amaravati conservation society, Mandala Srinivasa Rao, Valaparla Manoharam and farmers of Amaravati capital region. The petitioners sought an interim stay on the government order.
Advocate general S Sriram representing the AP government told the court that there was no merit in the petition and argued that the issue, which was supposed to be filed as a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed as a writ.
He said the matters related to the Amaravati capital region can only be heard by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or a full bench there. He also said the petitioners have deliberately filed the case as a writ petition and this was “forum shopping.”
Forum shopping refers to the practice of deliberately choosing a specific court for a legal case in the hope of getting a favourable outcome.
The court posted the matter for the next hearing on Friday, Dec 8.
