Odisha to file fresh suit against AP in SC

BHUBANESWAR: THE Odisha government has decided to file a fresh case in the Supreme Court for injunction against the Andhra Pradesh government for issuing notification to hold Mandal Parishad and Zilla Parishad polls in the disputed Kotia gram panchayat in Koraput district on April 8.

The Odisha government had earlier approached the Supreme Court on February 11 for initiating contempt of court proceedings against the neighbouring state for notifying panchayat polls in three villages in Kotia gram panchayat, violating the status quo agreed upon by the two states more than 50 years ago.

In a letter to district collector Abdaal M Akhtar on Monday, principal secretary in the Revenue and Disaster Management department Bishnupada Sethi asked him to treat the issue as extremely urgent and advised him to get in touch with Sibo Sankar Mishra, the Advocate on Records (AOR), Supreme Court of India with relevant records and instructions to enable him to conduct the case on behalf of Odisha.

Deputy secretary in the Law department Bhagaban Nayak has also approached the AOR in a letter on Monday to file the fresh suit of injunction against Andhra Pradesh for Odisha. Sources said that the decision to file a fresh suit has been taken after obtaining the opinion of former judge of Supreme Court Justice A K Patnaik.

The Odisha government had moved the apex court seeking initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Andhra Pradesh. It had maintained in the suit that Andhra Pradesh violated an order of the Supreme Court in 1968 to maintain status quo in the disputed area. Both the states had submitted undertakings in 2006 to maintain status quo following which the case was disposed of.The Andhra Pradesh government, however, went ahead with the panchayat elections in the disputed area on February 13.