Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Praveen Kumar Mishra on Tuesday refused to stay the process of establishing the headquarters of the proposed ‘Sri Sathya Sai District’ at Puttaparthi, saying that the “court cannot interfere at this stage as the official notification for the formation of the new district and identifying its headquarters has not been issued.”
During the hearing on the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Hindupur All-Party Committee seeking a stay on the process of setting up the offices at Puttaparthi, and batting for Hindupur as the headquarters of the new district, Mr. Justice Praveen Kumar Mishra directed the Public Prosecutor to file an affidavit on the issue and posted further hearing to May 5, said president of the all-party committee Balaji Manohar.
Notice served in contempt plea
Meanwhile, in the contempt case filed by the Rayalaseema Saaguneeti Sadhana Samithi (RSSS), the court served a notice on the Kurnool District Collector and listed the case for hearing on Wednesday (March 30).
The RSSS had challenged the decision of the State government and the District Collector to use the premises of the Nandyal Laboratory of the Regional Agriculture Research Station (RARS) and other buildings as “transit Collectorate” of the proposed Nandyal District.
The RSSS argued that the court had ordered a status quo on February 3, 2021, against alienation of the said buildings for setting up a medical college, and that the matter had not yet been settled.
PIL against ANGRAU Registrar
In another PIL, the RSSS questioned the authority of the Registrar of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University in allowing the district administration to use the premises as “transit Collectorate” when Associate Director of Research and Head of RARS-Nandyal N.C. Venkateswarlu had objected to it through a letter dated March 4, 2022, to the District Collector.
This PIL was also accepted for admission and would be listed soon for hearing.
