New Delhi, Jan 24: The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on the contempt petition filed by the Odisha government against Andhra Pradesh in connection with the Kotia border dispute in Koraput district.
The Top court cited that discussion is underway between the committees formed to resolve dispute and said the hearing of the contempt petition will resume after four weeks.
The discussions between the committees has not reached any consensus so far.
Earlier, the Apex court, while hearing a petition, had turned down the Andhra Pradesh government’s request to dispose of the contempt of court proceedings against it for violation of status quo agreed upon by the two states more than 50 years ago.
The SC had said the contempt of court proceedings will remain pending until no amicable solution is reached between both the states. The Court had advised to resolve the issue at political levels through discussions.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his AP counterpart YS Jagan Mohan had a meeting in Bhubaneswar on November 9, 2021. It was later both the governments had issued a joint statement over formation of a high level committee comprising the Chief Secretaries of both the states.
As per the decision, the Odisha government on November 24 formed an eight-member committee under the chairmanship of the State Chief Secretary to discuss with the officials nominated by Andhra Pradesh to find ways to end all outstanding border disputes, including the contentious Kotia villages.
Notably, the Odisha government had knocked the doors of the Supreme Court, seeking contempt of court proceedings against Andhra Pradesh government over Kotia border issue on February 10 last year.
