HYDERABAD: Majority members of the advocates’ community have welcomed the order issued by the Central government constituting a separate High Court for Andhra Pradesh state from January 1, 2019 with the principal seat of such High Court at Amaravati in AP and the Hyderabad High Court shall become the High court for Telangana state with effect from the same date. However, the members particularly those belonging to AP have got apprehensions regarding commencement of full-fledged functioning of the new High Court at Amaravati from the said date.

AP advocates council chairman Ganta Rama Rao while welcoming the President orders, pointed out that the facilities at ground level are not taken into consideration before issuance of notification. There are no proper transportation facilities for the lawyers and litigants. Sufficient time was not given even to shift to the new premises, he added.

Earlier this month, the general body of the AP High Court advocates’ association have unanimously resolved to request the Centre to issue notification for a separate High Court for AP state at Amaravati only after the High Court is fully established as per provisions of the AP Reorganization Act, 2014. It also resolved to request the AP government to provide the necessary amenities and facilities for the advocates and other para legal staff in the new High Court.

AP state public prosecutor Posani Venkateswarlu said that though he welcomes the said order, it will be difficult to commence operations from Jan 1. He felt of shifting to the new high court only completion of bifurcation of files of the common high court. How it will be possible to shift such files within such a short period, he asked. Several lawyers and court staff said that there are several issues to be resolved before setting up of separate High Court for AP state.