It is not often that the Andhra Pradesh High Court and the Andhra Pradesh government agree upon an issue, as the HC often passes judgements against the AP government’s wishes. For the first time in a long time though, the AP HC has passed an order in favour of the AP government, regarding the Pedalandariki Illu scheme, introduced by the YSRCP government, under its flagship Navaratnalu scheme.
Earlier, on October 8th, the single judge bench comprising Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy passed a judgement stating that no conduction works are to take place in the plots allotted to the poor as part of the scheme. A division bench of the high court headed by chief justice Prashant Kumar Mishra dismissed the earlier judgement and passed a new judgement allowing construction in those lands.
The judge, while appreciating the government’s scheme, found fault with the government for deciding to allot house sites only to women which he said was discriminatory. It was also argued that petitions were filed by the government, in the first place, as the people didn’t properly understand the scheme.