The Andhra Pradesh high court, which has been denying permission to the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to shift the administrative capital from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam by ordering status quo, has also found fault with the proposed construction of a government guest house in Visakhapatnam.
The high court on Thursday questioned as to why the government had laid foundation stone for the construction of a government guest house in over 30 acres in Visakhapatnam at a time when the status quo on shifting of capital was in force.
The high court gave the directions acting on a petition by filed by a senior advocate Nitish Gupta reportedly on behalf of some TDP leaders.
Gutpa complained to the court that the state government had resorted to contempt of court by acquiring 30 acres of land at Kapuluppada area in Visakhapatnam (evicting the existing police organization) on August 14, almost 10 days after the HC ordered status quo on the matters concerning the capital.
The state high court asked state chief secretary Neelam Sawhney to file a counter affidavit on the issue by September 10.
The advocate said that more than 70 petitions were filed in the high court against the trifurcation of the capital in Andhra Pradesh.
However, the government has filed a single counter-affidavit in response to over 70 petitions. The high court asked the government to file a counter affidavit to each and every petition.