The A.P. High Court has directed the A.P. Police to review the plea by Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti to undertake a “Maha Padayatra,” from September 12 should be permitted with certain conditions. The land owners are taking the yatra to mark the 1,000 days of protest demanding that Amaravati should be the sole capital. The Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government in December 2019 proposed and passed a bill in Assembly proposing three Capitals for the State, including the Legislative Capital at Amaravati. Since then, a section of land owners formed a body called Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti and launched protests.
The court on Friday heard a petition filed by Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti conveners A. Siva Reddy and Gadde Tirupathi Rao seeking relief from an order given by the Director General of Police late last night denying permission to the pada yatra citing law and order issues. The DGP K.V. Rajendranath Reddy cited local law and order issues and the earlier instances of law-and-order disturbances during the earlier padayatra taken from Amaravati to Tirupathi.
The court has directed that 600 persons could take part in the yatra beginning on September 12 at Amaravati and ending at Arasavalli in the Srikakulam district. The court also said that all the participants should wear an ID card and take prior permission for the final meeting.
