A division Bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra comprising Justice M. Satyanarayana Murthy on March 14 refused to issue interim Orders against the proposed creation of 13 new districts and directed the government to file a counter in eight weeks.
The judges were hearing a PIL filed by D. Vijay Kumar of Appapuram village in Kakumanu Mandal of Guntur district, B. Siddhartha of Palametta Vijayaramapuram in Veeraghattam Mandal of Srikakulam district and J. Rama Rao of Ongole against the draft notification issued under Section 3 of the A. P. Districts (Formation) Act, 1974 for carving out the new districts from the existing districts, which takes their total number to 26.
The petitioners argued that the G.Os. given for the creation of new districts were in violation of Article 371-D of the Constitution and the Presidential order pertaining to A. P. Public Employment (Organisation of Local Cadres and Regulations of Direct Recruitment) Order of 1975.
They said the government decided to make its offices in the restructured districts and revenue divisions functional from April 2 by treating objections and suggestions as a mere formality. Further, they insisted that the government has no powers and competence to change the geographical area of districts as notified under Clause 6 of the Public Employment Order as the impugned proceedings would unsettle the ‘local areas’.
