Bifurcation of HC complete

​Hyderabad:  President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday issued a notification for the long-pending bifurcation of the High Court between the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The gazette notification said January 1 would be the appointed day for the AP High Court which will start functioning from the AP capital Amaravati. 

The notification said: “The President hereby constitutes a separate High Court for the state of Andhra Pradesh, namely, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, from the first day of January, 2019 with the principal seat of such High Court at Amaravati in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad shall become the High Court for the state of Telangana.” 

The bifurcation of judges working in the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad was also finalised. Justices appointed for the AP High Court: Ramesh Ranganathan (presently working as Chief Justice of High Court of Uttarakhand), Chagari Praveen Kumar,  Sarasa Venkatanarayana Bhatti, Akula Venkata Sesha Sai, Dama Seshadri Naidu (presently working on transfer as Judge, High Court of Kerala),  Mandhata Seetharama Murti, Upmaka Durga Prasad Rao,  Talluri Sunil Chowdary,  Mallavolu Satyanarayana Murthy,  Gudiseva Shyam Prasad,  Kumari Javalakar Uma Devi,  Nakka Balayogi, Telaprolu Rajani, Durvasula Venkata Subramanya Suryanarayana Somayajulu, Kongara Vijaya Lakshmi and  Manthoj Ganga Rao.   

Justices appointed for the Telangana High Court: Puligoru Venkata Sanjay Kumar, Mamidanna Satya Ratna Ramachandra Rao, Adavalli Rajasheker Reddy, Ponugoti Naveen Rao,  Challa Kodandaram Chowdary,  Bulusu Siva Sankara Rao,  Shameem Akther, Potlapalli Keshava Rao, Abhinand Kumar Shavili and  Todupunuri Amarnath Goud.

Justice R Subhash Reddy, who was a judge of the common High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad and who has been elevated as judge of the Supreme Court of India, had exercised the option for allocation to the High Court for the State of Telangana, the notification said. Stakeholders from both states have been calling for the bifurcation of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad since the passing of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act in 2014. 

The Act provides for separate High Courts in each state. To ensure that the same was implemented, a writ petition was filed in the High Court in 2015. The same was disposed of with directions to the state government to identify and locate the site of the new Andhra Pradesh High Court in Amaravati.