CM camp office can be located anywhere in the state, AP govt files affidavit in High Court

There have been several petitions filed in Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking to stop the relocation of offices from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam. The High Court, which heard the case on October 6, directed the state government to file a counterclaim clarifying the shifting of CM's camp office and other offices of the corporations. Against this backdrop, Municipal Secretary J Shyamala Rao filed a counterclaim in the High Court. The High Court was told that the CM's camp office can be located anywhere in the state.

The AP government has asserted that the CRDA Act states that there is no clear definition or reference to the CM's camp office in the master plan notified under it. Moreover, the state has clarified that the CM's office has the freedom to arrange accommodation in every district. It clarified that the petitioners had no right to demand that the CM should act from the present camp office, nor did they have the right to say not to use CM offices at other districts. On this occasion, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice JK Maheshwari asked what was the CM's camp office? There have been many questions on the part of the government as to where it should be. Advocate General (AG) Shriram on behalf of the government reported to the High Court that the counter would be filed with these details.

The petitioner requested beyond the provisions of Section 8 of the 'Decentralization of Administration Act'. It is not legal for the CM camp office to be in one place. "The term 'camp office' does not apply to the legal provisions of the AP CRDA or the Capital Master Plan and CM's camp office did not specify its location in any of the cities mentioned in the master plan; the petitioners have no right to insist that the Chief Minister should act from the present camp office," the government said. The government has urged the court to squash the petition.

However, the counter said that the status quo orders issued by the High Court were applicable only to corporations falling under the purview of the CRDA in Vijayawada and Guntur. AP State Seeds Development in Vijayawada, AP Rajiv Home, APMDC, APTDC, AP Road Development, AP Beverages, AP State Minority Finance, AP State Christian (Minorities) Finance, AP State Police, Housing Corporation, are the offices under status quo. In view of these details it was requested that the supplementary petition filed by the Farmer Protection Committee be struck down.