Special status row: SC seeks Centre's response

The Supreme Court, on Monday sought the Centre's response after hearing a petition seeking implementation of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014.

A division bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, sought a reply in four weeks.

A public interest litigation (PIL) was moved before the Hyderabad High Court on Mar 31, 2018, seeking a direction to the Central government to accord the Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh and implement the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

A resident of Swarna village, P. Srinivasa Rao, urged the court to direct the Centre to implement the Section 6, 90, 92 and 93 of the AP Reorganisation Act.

He said that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured the Parliament during the discussion on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill that special category status would be given to Andhra Pradesh.

He added that the current Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who were in the opposition at that time, also have the responsibility to ensure that the promises made to the people of Andhra Pradesh are fulfilled to protect the decorum and the image of the Parliament.

During 2014 when the bifurcation was underway, the residuary Andhra State sought the SCS, arguing that it had been left disadvantaged due to the loss of capital Hyderabad to the newly carved out State, Telangana.