Vijayawada: Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit recused from hearing the three capitals case of Andhra Pradesh and directed the registry to post the hearing for another bench.
A division bench headed by the CJI took up the hearing of the petitions filed by the farmers from Amaravati region and the state government in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Farmers’ counsel submitted to the court that when the present CJI was serving as senior counsel in the apex court, he rendered his opinion to Andhra Pradesh in relation to its bifurcation. A copy of his opinion was placed before the court.
The CJI took note and said he was not going to hear the case and directed the registry to allot the case to another bench.
Government counsel informed the court that the opinion rendered was given long ago when the AP Reorganization Act was not passed. The CJI reiterated that he would not hear the case.
Earlier, the state government filed an SLP in the apex court challenging the AP high court’s judgment that the state was not competent to legislate on its three capitals. The government filed the SLP to help resolve the issue and go ahead with the 3-capitals plan.
The AP government presented the view that it is for a state to reorganise itself as per provisions of the central Act under Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution. If a state is deprived of the power to reorganise its capital city, it would be destructive to the federal saturation of the Indian Constitution, the state argued.
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