Kotia Row: SC grants Odisha 4-week time to file rejoinder

New Delhi: Hearing the contempt petition filed by Odisha Government regarding Kotia border dispute with Andhra Pradesh, Supreme Court today granted four-week time to Odisha to file rejoinder.

During the hearing, the Counsel for Andhra Pradesh argued that by no stretch of imagination can it be stated that there was a breach of undertaking or of any order passed by the SC, and the contempt petition should be junked.

Later, Odisha’s Counsel senior advocate Vikas Singh sought a four weeks’ adjournment, to which advocate Mahfooz Nazki for Andhra Pradesh said that he has no objection. Later, the apex court adjourned the matter for four weeks.

Earlier, the Collector of Vizianagaram in his reply to the SC said that three concerned villages– Ganjaybadra, Pattuchennuru and Paguluchennuru– fall under Araku Parliamentary Constituency and Saluru Assembly Constituency of Andhra Pradesh. Lok Sabha and Assembly elections have been conducted by Andhra Pradesh in the villages since 1952 while Panchayat Polls by the AP Government were held in the villages in 2006 and 2013.

He further prayed the Supreme Court to dismiss Odisha’s petition.