The Andhra Pradesh government, run by the ruling YSRCP, filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court of Andhra Pradesh’s judgment with respect to the three capitals issue of the state. The HC ruled that Amaravati should be the sole capital of AP, and that there should not be any three capitals.
The advocates arguing on behalf of the state government said that the AP HC’s verdict was in opposition to the federal spirit of the country, as it was intervening in the state government’s powers. They also reminded the SC bench that the central government had clarified on several occasions that the decision of a state’s capital lies solely with the state government, and with no one else.
The advocates also argued that the Amaravati farmers filed a contempt case against the government because it didn’t implement the HC’s orders of developing the plots to be given to the farmers within three months, and to build the capital city in six months, all of which are impractical. They also went on to remind the SC that the AP High Court heard cases regarding Amaravati even after the YSRCP government withdrew the bills related to the decentralization of the spatial, which makes the judgment null and void, as it was passed on bills that are no longer existent in the state. The SC bench then postponed the case to November 28th, where it would listen to the arguments of all the petitioners.