Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday accepted the petition filed by Odisha government seeking contempt of court proceedings against Andhra Pradesh government over the Kotia border dispute. The apex court has decided to hold the hearing of the case on February 12.
The State government had on Wednesday filed a write petition in the Supreme Court couple of days after the State Election Commission, Andhra Pradesh announced to hold panchayat polls in the disputed Kotia cluster of villages that comes under the jurisdiction of Odisha's Koraput district.
In the petition, the State government had mentioned that the Supreme Court in 1968 had ordered the maintenance of status quo in the disputed area. In its final hearing in 2006, the apex court had also upheld its earlier judgement.
The government had also prayed before the apex court for speedy hearing in connection with the issue as the neighbouring State had scheduled to hold the rural polls in the three villages of Kotia between February 13 and 17.
It is worth mentioning that Kotia gram panchayat which consists of 27 small tribal hamlets has been a bone of contention between Andhra Pradhesh and Odisha since a long time and both the States have been claiming sovereign rights over the area.
(Edited by Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)