Nandyal: Minority Welfare Minister NMD Farooq informed that swift measures are being taken to establish High Court Bench in Kurnool. Speaking to reporters in Nandyal on Sunday, he stated that a team of High Court judges will visit Kurnool on February 6 to select a suitable building for the Bench. The team will inspect a building belonging to Andhra Pra-desh Electricity Regulatory Commission at Dinne Devarapadu in Kur-nool. The Minister further explained that special efforts are being made under the leadership of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to facili-tate the establishment of High Court (HC) Bench and the process is progressing rapidly.

HC Registrar (Vigilance) V Srinivasa Shivaram sent a letter to Kurnool district Collector P Ranjith Basha on January 29, instructing him to submit detailed information on the required infrastructure for 15 High Court judges. This includes court complexes, chambers, staff accom-modations, advocate facilities, residential provisions for judges and court staff, and other necessary amenities. The report must be sub-mitted immediately.

Before the elections, Chandrababu Naidu had assured during Praja Galam Sabha that a HC bench would be established in Kurnool as soon as the coalition government assumes office. True to his promise, a resolution was passed in the Assembly last November, and a formal request was sent to HC to initiate necessary actions. In response, the HC Registrar has now issued a letter emphasising the urgency of sub-mitting the report to the committee formed by Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur.

If a High Court bench is set up in Kurnool, nearly 15 judges are ex-pected to relocate here. Hence, officials, under the Collector’s di-rective, conducted site inspections on Thursday. RDO, R&B engineers, corporation officials, and other authorities surveyed multiple build-ings for potential use. The RDO was instructed to identify vacant gov-ernment land for setting up necessary facilities.

Three potential buildings were shortlisted - Primary choice is G+2 building with 62 rooms built with Cluster University funds in B Camp; secondary choice is Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) building in Dinne Devarapadu; and tertiary choice is G+3 private building spanning 35,000 sq ft near Nannur Toll Plaza on Kurnool-Nandyal na-tional highway.

Among these, Cluster University building, which is currently vacant, is considered as most suitable for immediate temporary use.

For a permanent High Court bench, two locations were inspected, 26 acres in Jagannath Gattu and 20 acres at Joharapuram, currently used as the municipal corporation’s dumping yard. Officials suggest that the dumping yard site is more accessible to everyone.