Andhra Pradesh High Court sets aside three-capitals petitions as issue changes
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has said more than 120 petitions challenging the state’s three-capitals plan have become infructuous after Parliament legally recognised Amaravati as the state’s sole capital. The court said any remaining matters would be considered in light of pending Supreme Court appeals over its earlier Amaravati judgment.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has said more than 120 petitions challenging the state’s proposed three-capitals plan have become infructuous after Parliament gave legal recognition to Amaravati as the sole capital. A Division Bench led by Chief Justice Lisa Gill made the observation on Friday, according to The Hindu. The court said the amendment to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, had changed the legal position surrounding the petitions.
The Chief Justice said any cases that remained pending would be examined on November 20. The court took into account the possibility that appeals against its March 3, 2022, Amaravati judgment would be heard by the Supreme Court on November 29, 2026. The state’s Advocate General, Dammalapati Srinivas, told the Bench that the government had submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court in December 2024 committing to complete Amaravati’s infrastructure projects within three years.
He said work was progressing rapidly. Lawyers representing some petitioners said the state could resolve the remaining dispute by withdrawing the Special Leave Petitions filed by the previous YSR Congress Party government. Those appeals challenged the High Court’s ruling on two 2020 laws that facilitated the three-capitals plan.
A senior advocate also sought the time-bound allocation of developed plots to beneficiaries of the Land Pooling Scheme. Senior counsel Jandhyala Ravi Sankar said the petitions were largely procedural because the central issue had already been decided on its merits. The three-capitals proposal was announced in December 2019 by then Chief Minister Y.S.
Jagan Mohan Reddy. It envisaged Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool serving as the legislative, executive and judicial capitals respectively. The plan led to widespread protests, particularly by farmers who had contributed land for Amaravati.
In March 2022, a three-judge High Court Bench ruled that the capital could not be moved from Amaravati, holding that the state legislature lacked competence to reverse the earlier decision. Parliament passed the AP Reorganisation (Amendment) Act on April 2, 2026, recognising Amaravati as the only capital with effect from June 2, 2024.
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