Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014
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The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014, commonly known as the Telangana Act, is an Act of Indian Parliament that split the state of
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
into
Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
and the residuary
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
state, as an outcome of the Telangana movement. The Act defined the boundaries of the two states, determined how the assets and liabilities were to be divided, and laid out the status of
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
as the permanent capital of new Telangana state and temporary capital of the Andhra Pradesh state. An earlier version of the bill, ''Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2013'', was rejected by the
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly ( Telugu: ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ శాసన సభ, ISO: ''Āndhra Pradēś Śāsana Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state, Andhra Pradesh. ...
on 30 January 2014. The 2014 bill was passed in the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...
on 18 February 2014 and in the
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
on 20 February 2014. The bill was attested by the
President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...
,
Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee ( ; born, 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was an Indian statesman who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a pol ...
on 1 March 2014 and published in the official Gazette on 2 March 2014, where as 2 June 2014 is the 'appointed day' according to the act. The new states were created on 2 June 2014.


Legislative history

The Union Cabinet formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) committee in August 2013 led by the Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde to look into the suitability of a division of Andhra Pradesh. The members included the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum Minister & Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily, Union Rural Development Minister
Jairam Ramesh Jairam Ramesh (born 9 April 1954) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He is a Member of Parliament representing Karnataka state in the Rajya Sabha. In July 2011, Jairam was elevated to the Union Council of Minis ...
and minister of state in PMO Narayanaswamy. It also took the Srikrishna committee on Telangana into account. A no-confidence motion against the Congress government was submitted to the speaker of the house Meira Kumari by Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh making the sitting government a minority government was rejected by the speaker. Amidst a lot of protest in the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...
(the lower house of the
Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...
), the bill was introduced by the speaker Meira Kumar at 12:00 pm on 13 February 2014. During this time, there was a lot of shouting of slogans and disruption of proceedings by the Seemandhra (non-Telangana) MPs in the parliament who were determined to stop the bill. The
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
party MP's attacked the anti-Telangana protestors, and the MP Lagadapati Rajagopal used pepper spray in the parliament. Later he said he was attacked by some Congress MPs from other states and had to use it in self-defense. The parliament was then adjourned at 12:05 pm to 02:00 pm. The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said she did not know if the bill was introduced. On 18 February 2014, the Telangana Bill was passed by the Voice Vote in the Lok Sabha with support from the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
(BJP) while the live telecast of the House was cut off and the doors and galleries were sealed. The Seemandhra leaders accused the
United Progressive Alliance The United Progressive Alliance (UPA; Hindi: Saṁyukta Pragatiśīl Gaṭhabandhan) was a Political group, political alliance in India led by the Indian National Congress. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election, 2004 general ele ...
government of having taken it up for electoral gains and said it was a "black day" for the Indian parliament. On 20 February, the Telangana bill was passed by the
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
(the higher house of parliament) with support from the BJP. MPs from various parties asked for division but it was rejected by the speaker. Finally, the bill was passed by a voice vote. The bill received the assent of the President and published in the Gazette on 1 March 2014.


Special category status

Jairam Ramesh said that the special category status for residual state of Andhra Pradesh is a decision of the Union Cabinet endorsed by the National Development Council (NDC) with the precedent of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand was created by law in 2000 and got special category status only in 2002 by a decision of the Union Cabinet.


Suspension of members of parliament

Due to disruptions to the House, Meira Kumar suspended 18 MPs from Andhra Pradesh on 13 February 2014 for the rest of the session. They included 11 MPs of the Congress party ( Sabbam Hari, Anantha Venkatarami Reddy, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, S. P. Y. Reddy, M. Sreenivasulu Reddy, V. Aruna Kumar, A. Sai Prathap, Suresh Kumar Shetkar, K. R. G. Vasi Akash Kanumuri and G. Sukhender Reddy), three MPs of the Telugu Desam party ( Niramalli Sivaprasad, Nimmala Kristappa, and K. Narayana Rao), two MPs of YSR Congress ( Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy and M. Rajamohan Reddy), and two other MPs from the Telangana region.


Resolution for the united Andhra Pradesh in Assembly

Though only an opinion is required under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, a resolution was adopted and the bill was rejected by the
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly ( Telugu: ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ శాసన సభ, ISO: ''Āndhra Pradēś Śāsana Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state, Andhra Pradesh. ...
and
Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
on 30 January 2014. Only 119 out of 294 MLAs in state assembly are from Telangana. Non-Telangana MLAs opposed the bill. This was the first instance a state was re-organized after a state clearly expressed an opinion against the re-organization in Indian history.


Petitions against the Bill in Supreme Court

Nine petitions were filed in the
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...
requesting a stay of the tabling of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in parliament. The court rejected the pleas saying, "We do not think this is the appropriate stage for us to interfere". They would only consider the petition if the bill was passed in parliament. But the court issued notices to the centre regarding the issue on 7 March 2014. The apex court would take up the issue on 5 May 2014. The next hearing in the Supreme Court was scheduled for 20 August 2014 One petitioner approached the Supreme Court praying that the parliament does not have the power either under Articles 3, 4(2) or any other provision of the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...
to divide a state except by an appropriate amendment of the Constitution under article 368 and with the unanimous consent of the people of the affected State or States. While invoking Articles 2 & 3, the deemed constitutional amendment provision under article 4 (2) of the constitution bypassing Article 368 was said to be invalid after the 24th Amendment in 1971. The law ministry of the union government considered bringing appropriate amendments (including constitutional amendments) to the Act to bring legality to it. The common high court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states stated that the division of the high court located at Hyderabad can only be done with the formation of separate high court for Andhra Pradesh located in that state as per section 31 of the Act. A separate high court for Telangana can not be formed by dividing the present common high court as the existing high court at Hyderabad would become high court of Telangana state after the formation of one for Andhra Pradesh. On the applicability of the section 47 of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Supreme Court in its judgement clarified the manner the financial assets and liabilities of undivided state departments and corporations are to be shared between the new states. In an effort to avoid the huge financial burden to finance the creation of many institutions in the truncated AP state, the affidavit of central government clinched the dispute against Telangana state. AP state also decided to approach the Supreme Court regarding the discriminatory sharing of commercial taxes' income and refunds under sections 50, 51 and 56 of the act. The state was weary of the Central government's inaction for a long time to amend these sections such that it stood to lose INR 36 billion.


2023: Supreme Court proceedings

The case was listed on 22 August 2023 for a hearing in the Supreme Court after repeatedly adjourning the hearings for the last six months without giving any reason. Nearly 31 active petitioners are going to present their arguments before the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices K.M. Josheph (to retire in June 2023), B.V. Nagaratna and J.B. Pardiwala. Since the case is related to constitutional matters, the proceedings would be telecast by live webcasting.


Details of the Bill

The bill was introduced on 5 December 2013, the first day of the winter session in the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh. The Union cabinet approved formation of Telangana with ten districts. Hyderabad will remain as the common capital under the Governor's supervision for not more than ten years. A new capital city for Andhra Pradesh would be declared in 45 days. The bill was drafted based on the boundaries of the proposed Telangana State as approved by the Union Cabinet in its meeting on 3 October 2013. The new state of Telangana would have 119 elected members of its legislative assembly, 40 members of its legislative council, 17 members of the Lok Sabha and 7 members in the Rajya Sabha. The residuary state of Andhra Pradesh would have 175 elected MLAs, 50 MLCs, 25 MPs of Lok Sabha and 11 MPs of Rajya Sabha. There would be a common High Court and its expenditure would be apportioned between the two successor states based on population ratio until a separate court was set up under Article 214 for the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. The existing Public Service Commission would be the Public Service Commission for the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh and the
Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body tasked with recruiting officers for All India Services and the Central Civil Services (Group A and B) through various standardized examinations. In 2023, 1.3 million applica ...
would, with the approval of President, act as the Public Service Commission for Telangana. The Ministry of Water Resources of the Government of India would constitute a Krishna River Management Board and a Godavari River Management Board within a period of 60 days from the date of coming into force of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill. The Boards would be responsible for the administration, regulation and maintenance of the head works of the dams, reservoirs or head works of canals, as notified by the Government of India on
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
and
Godavari The Godavari (, od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga River and drains the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Maharash ...
rivers, to implement all the awards made by the Tribunals. The Boards would be responsible for making an appraisal of proposals for construction of new projects on Krishna and Godavari rivers and give technical clearance. While not agreeing for the fresh water allocation of Krishna river among all the four riparian states, the extended Justice Brijesh Kumar tribunal ruled that the water sharing between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states would be finalised project wise from the water allocations made to erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state by earlier Bachawat tribunal. It also stated that the primary reason for the division of the erstwhile state was to “fulfil the political and democratic aspirations of the people of Telangana region,” and not inequitable sharing of water. The Governor shall have special responsibility to the security of life, liberty and property of all those who reside in the common capital of
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. The Governor's responsibility shall extend to matters such as law and order, internal security and safety of all vital installations in the discharge of these functions. This transitory provision shall cease to have effect after a period not exceeding 10 years. The Bill provides for the creation of separate cadres of All India Services in respect of the two states from the appointed day. Advisory Committee(s) would be constituted to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all employees. The Government of India shall help the successor states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in raising additional police forces for maintenance of public order and shall also deploy one additional unit of the force in Hyderabad for a period of five years. The
Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
training centre in Hyderabad shall function as common training centre for the successor states for three years. In this period of three years, the GoI shall assist the successor state of Andhra Pradesh in setting up a similar training centre for Greyhounds. The existing Greyhound and
OCTOPUS An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...
forces shall be distributed between the two states. Of the total equity of
Singareni Collieries Company The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is a Government-owned corporation, government-owned-coal mining corporation in India. It is under the ownership of Government of Telangana, Department of Energy, Government of Telangana. The Uni ...
Limited (SCCL), 51 per cent shall be with Government of Telangana and 49 per cent with Government of India. Existing coal linkages of SCCL shall continue without any change. New linkages shall be allotted to the successor States as per the new coal distribution policy by the Government of India. Allocation of natural gas will continue to be done as per the policies and guidelines issued by the Government of India. The royalties payable on domestic on-shore production of oil and gas shall accrue to the state in which such production takes place. Allocation of power from Central generating stations shall be allocated to the successor states in the ratio of the average of the actual energy consumption of last five years of the relevant Discoms. For a period of 10 years, the successor state that has a deficit of electricity shall have the first right of refusal for the purchase of surplus power from the other state. Later, the
Polavaram Polavaram may refer to: * Polavaram, Eluru district, a village in Andhra Pradesh * Polavaram, Krishna district, a village in Andhra Pradesh * I. Polavaram, East Godavari district, a village in Andhra Pradesh *I. Polavaram mandal The I. Polavara ...
ordinance merging the project-affected villages in the residuary Andhra Pradesh state was accepted by the Parliament in July 2014. Seven mandals from
Khammam district Khammam district is a district in the eastern region of the Indian state of Telangana. The city of Khammam is the district headquarters. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet district, Suryapet, Mahabubabad district, Mahabubabad, Bhadra ...
of
Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
have been transferred to Andhra Pradesh. Four mandals from Bhadrachalam revenue division, namely Chinturu, Kunavaram, Vararamachandrapuram, Bhadrachalam (excluding the Bhadrachalam revenue village) were transferred to East Godavari district. Three mandals from Palvancha revenue division, namely Kukunoor, Velerupadu, Burgampadu (except 12 villages, namely Pinapaka, MorampalliBanjara, Laxmipuram, Burgampadu, Naginiprolu, Krishnasagar, Tekula, Sarapaka, Iravendi, Motepattinagar, Uppusaka, Nakiripeta and Sompalli), have been added to West Godavari district. This came into force as the 16th Lok Sabha has passed the Polavaram Ordinance Bill with the voice vote on 11 July 2014.


New capital for residual Andhra Pradesh

On 4 September 2014, the then
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh is the chief executive of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the ch ...
Nara Chandrababu Naidu declared in the Legislative Assembly that the new capital of Andhra Pradesh state would come up in and around in between
Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...
and
Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...
. The capital city was named as
Amaravati Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...
on 1 April 2015. But in January 2020, Andhra Pradesh assembly passed a bill, due to which the state shall have Administrative Capital as
Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...
,
Legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...
Capital as
Amaravati Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...
and
Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
Capital as
Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema". Kurnool is also famous for Diamond hunting as diamonds ca ...
. But the Andhra Pradesh High Court declared that the State
Government of Andhra Pradesh The Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as GoAP, is the Administrative division, state government and the administrative body responsible for the governance of the States of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati is the capital ...
had no legislative competence to change the capital or remove
Amaravati Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...
from being the capital of the three civic wings legislature, executive and judiciary of the State.


See also

* Part One of the Constitution of India *
President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...
*
Amendment of the Constitution of India Amending the Constitution of India is the process of making changes to the nation's fundamental law or supreme law. The procedure of amendment in the constitution is laid down in Part XX (Article 368) of the Constitution of India. This procedure ...
*
List of amendments of the Constitution of India As of February 2025, there have been 106 amendments of the Constitution of India since it was first enacted in 1950. The Indian Constitution is the most amended national constitution in the world. The Constitution spells out governmental powe ...
*
State of Emergency in India Part XVIII of the Constitution of India allows for a constitutional setup that can be proclaimed by the president of India as a state of emergency, when the consultant group perceives and warns against grave threats to the nation from internal ...
*
Emergency provisions of the Constitution of India Emergency Provisions are contained in Part Eighteen of the Constitution of India. The President of India has the power to impose emergency rule in any or all the Indian states if the security of part or all of India is threatened by "war or ex ...
*
Telugu states The Telugu states are the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Yanam enclave of Puducherry, where the plurality of the population belongs to the Telugu ethnic-group. When put together, the region is bordered by Maharashtra ...


Bibliography

*


References


External links


Bill on the Official site
(archived)
As introduced in LOK SABHA Bill No. 8 of 2014
(PDF)
AS PASSED BY LOK SABHA ON 18-02-2014 Bill No. 8-C of 2014
(PDF). {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327124943/http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Telangana/AP%20Reorganisation%20Bill,%202014.pdf , date=27 March 2014 .
Reorganization Andhra Pradesh
Acts of the Parliament of India 2014 Reorganisation of Indian states 2014 in Indian politics History of Amaravati History of Andhra Pradesh (1947–2014) History of Andhra Pradesh (2014–present) History of Telangana