Chorus for HC bench in Vizag gains momentum

Visakhapatnam: The clamour for a separate High Court bench in Visakhapatnam and Tirupati is again gaining ground with advocates belonging to the joint action committee (JAC) in Rayalaseema and lawyers’ organisations in Visakhapatnam demanding separate High Court benches for Andhra Pradesh in the two cities.

They protested against the raw deal meted out to AP and non-allocation of a separate railway zone in Vizag in the Union budget and want the High Court benches to be established at the earliest. Protests and court boycotts have also been resorted to at other courts.

The Sivaramakrishna Committee had recommended setting up of High Ccourt benches in Tirupati and Vizag. Demanding a High Court bench, the Rayalaseema JAC had boycotted the courts early this week while in Vizag, various advocates organisations such as Forum for Legal Professionals (FLP) and Advocates Social Organisations (ASO) are trying to build pressure on the government for a separate bench.

Advocate Kuppili Muralidhar, president of FLP, said, “Former minister Konathala Ramakrishna has recently given representations in Delhi on this issue. The budget has also failed to satisfy the people here as there has been no special allocation for Amaravati zone or any special facility and neither any announcement for a separate railway zone been made. Most other neighbouring states have a couple of benches apart from their High Courts. Therefore, the demand for separate High Court benches for AP is justified.”

President of ASO Ramajogeswara Rao said Vizag has the highest number of practising advocates and several law institutes. “Even if the High Court is set up in the capital region, there needs to be a separate bench in Vizag for the convenience of public,” he added.