With the Andhra Pradesh high court delivering sensational judgement declaring Amaravati as the state capital and directing that there shall be no further legislations on the three capitals, the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government is all set to confront the judiciary all over again.
Though the judgement declaring Amaravati as the capital city was not totally unexpected, what irritated the Jagan government was the high court’s observation that the state legislature has no legal competence to shift or bifurcate or trifurcate the capital.
The three-member bench also made serious comments against the Jagan government alleging that it had violated the fundamental rights of the farmers. The bench also called the failure of completion of works of Amaravati as “fraud on power.”
It also found fault with Jagan for abandoning Amaravati project as financially unviable and said it was a lame excuse.
“The works were stalled immediately after the present government came into power, by taking a decision and consequently, the court can infer mala fides,” the court said.
The chief minister apparently taken serious view of the court’s comments and is said to be getting ready to counter the same.
While moving the Supreme Court is still being deliberated, he wants to make use of the state assembly to take a dig at the high court’s judgement.
The mood in the YSRC was reflected in the letter written by senior MLA and former minister Dharmana Prasada Rao to the chief minister, requesting that the assembly discuss the powers of the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.
He told Jagan that the Constitution of India had clearly established, in its doctrine of separate of powers, the roles of judiciary, legislature and judiciary.
“The legislature has the powers of enacting laws and frame rules and regulations of any Act. Denying its powers is against the spirit of the Constitution. It appears the judiciary is infringing upon the powers and responsibilities of the legislature,” Dharmana said in the letter.
State municipal administration minister Botsa Satyanarayana, too, made a similar comment, stating that the assembly has powers to enact laws. The government would consider introduction of three capitals’ bill in the state assembly, he said.
It appears Jagan, too, is contemplating having a thorough debate on the powers of the judiciary and the legislature.
“There won’t be any comments on the latest judgement on Amaravati. But there would certainly be serious debate on the judiciary crossing its limits,” a YSRC source said.
If there is such a debate, it would clearly indicate that the Jagan government is directly confronting the judiciary. It remains to be seen how the state high court would take it.
