Andhra CM’s camp office and capital city are not related: Advocate General to High Court

Source:-https://www.newindianexpress.com

VIJAYAWADA: On the first day of the daily hearing on the supplementary petitions filed against the proposed decentralisation of the Capital in the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday, the focus was on the Chief Minister’s camp office. Arguments took place on the issue for about 40 minutes.

A three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice JK Maheshwari, Justice Rakesh Kumar and Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy, asked several questions on the CM’s camp office. What is the meaning of the CM’s camp office? On what occasions is it set up? What are referred to as camp offices? Can a permanent structure be called a camp office? Was there any mention of the CM camp office in the CRDA Act? Were there any instances of the CM’s camp offices in the past and were they utilised?

Advocate General S Sriram submitted that when N Chandrababu Naidu was the chief minister, he had camp offices at his native village of Naravaripalle in Chittoor district and one at Park Hyatt in Hyderabad. Expenses on those camp offices were borne by the government, he informed.

The AG said that there was no connection between the CM camp office and the Capital city and informed the court that they will file a counter with complete details of the camp offices used by Naidu when he was the chief minister and related details.Following his argument, the bench adjourned the case hearing on the subject of CM’s camp office and state corporations to October 9.

Earlier, during his arguments, the AG also requested the court not to apply the status quo orders issued on the previous occasion on setting up of CM’s camp office. He said this issue and the Capital city issue are not related. If the Chief Minister desires, he can have a camp office in Nellore, Tirupati or any other place as per his convenience, the AG argued. Interrupting, the bench sought to know what the APCRDA Act says about the CM’s camp office.

The AG explained that there was no mention of CM’s camp office in the CRDA Act and there is no rule stating that CM’s camp office should be in the CRDA jurisdiction. Again, the bench asked what was the definition of a CM’s camp office? It observed that CM’s camp office is meant for the chief minister to conduct his official business, whenever he visits other districts and stays there for a few days. The bench said if the chief minister stays temporarily at the camp office and performs his administrative functions, there will not be any problem. But, if there is a permanent building constructed, how should it be considered as a camp office? it questioned. APCRDA counsel K Jaganmohan Reddy said such camp offices existed in the past too.

With regard to offices of various corporations, Sriram said they cannot be linked with the capital city issue and pointed out that some of the offices of the corporations are located outside the capital city. He informed the court that they will also file a counter on the issue.

The bench made it clear that it is not obstructing the Chief Minister from performing his duties and it does not have any such intentions. It permitted the government to file counters on subjects pertaining to CM camp office and corporations. It also posted hearing on the petitions seeking the court to stop the government from constructions related to the three-capital plan in Vizag and Kurnool to October 9.