New Delhi: Supreme Court hearing on initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Andhra Pradesh filed by Odisha government regarding the Kotia Row has been deferred.
Reportedly, the hearing will resume after 4 weeks as SC cited discussion underway between the committees formed to resolve dispute.
The Chief Ministers had earlier decided that the Chief Secretaries of both the states will set up an institutional mechanism to deliberate on outstanding issues and find a solution that is in the best interest of the people of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Notably, the Odisha government in a petition on February 10, 2021, had prayed the apex court for initiating contempt of court proceedings against the adjoining Andhra Pradesh Government as the latter has resorted to holding the panchayat polls in certain border villages of Kotia Gram Panchayat (GP) in Odisha’s Koraput district despite the court’s earlier order of maintaining status quo in the disputed land.
The Supreme Court in its 1968 and 2006 verdicts had reportedly ruled to maintain the status quo in the disputed areas under Kotia GP.
On April 7, 2021, the Odisha Government filed a second contempt petition in the Supreme Court over the long-standing border dispute with Andhra Pradesh as the neighbouring State again conducted elections in the villages under Kotia GP in Koraput district.
