The Andhra Pradesh high court on Thursday directed the state government to constitute a committee with the Central government officials for the inspection of the works on Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam.

The court had dismissed the five-member committee constituted by the state government which included three officials representing the State government.

The high court questioned the state government for having its own officials in the committee that was expected to inspect the excavation on Rushikonda.

The court asked the State government to give the names of the five officials of the Central government and ask them to submit their findings to the high court by January 31, 2023.

TDP MLA from Visakhapatnam Velagapudi Ramakrishna and Jana Sena leader Murthy Yadav have filed a case in the high court requesting the court to stop the excavation work on Rushikonda.

The court had earlier after the initial hearing directed the state government to constitute an expert committee to inspect the excavation works on the hill.

However, when the state government constituted a five-member committee with two officials from the Central government and three from the state government.

The petitioners have again challenged the committee in the high court and filed petitions. Accordingly, after hearing on Thursday, the court directed the State government to constitute the five-member committee with the Central government officials.