From Guntur to Hyderabad and on to the new capital: the three seats of the Andhra Pradesh High Court

Background

The Andhra State was formed after separating from the erstwhile Madras State, comprising 11 Telugu districts — Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Nellore, Kurnool, Anantapur, Cuddapah and Chittoor — in the year 1953. The High Court for the Andhra State, with its principal seat at Guntur, was established in the year 1954 with 7 Judges, and Justice Koka Subba Rao was its first Chief Justice.

In 1956 the Hyderabad State and the Andhra State were merged to form the State of Andhra Pradesh. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh was established with its principal seat at Hyderabad with 11 Judges, and Justice Koka Subba Rao was the first Chief Justice of this High Court as well. The State of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated, in the year 2014, into the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; the High Court at Hyderabad was designated as the Common High Court for the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh with effect from 02.06.2014 and continued to function from Hyderabad.

The present High Court of Andhra Pradesh came into existence by an order dated 26.12.2018 and started functioning with its principal seat at Amaravati from 01.01.2019 with 14 Judges; Justice C. Praveen Kumar was the acting Chief Justice at its inception. The High Court initially functioned from a temporary accommodation in Vijayawada, and has been functioning from the Interim Judicial Complex at Amaravati, in Guntur District, from 18.03.2019.