Days after the High Court of Andhra Pradesh ordered for status quo on continuing Amaravati as the capital of the Telugu State, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to issue a stay on the HC's order. This has to be seen as a setback to the Jaganmohan Reddy government.

"Since the matter is already pending in the HC and is coming up for hearing on Thursday (August 27), we can't interfere," the bench of the apex court said. It also said that it won't be directing the HC to expedite the hearing process. The YCP government had made the request to the SC.

The highest court of the country hoped that the matter will be resolved soon. However, it will not fix a deadline for the HC.

The 'three capitals' issue has become a sort of executive versus judiciary tussle. Can the judiciary overreach itself and decide where the executive must function from? The AP government is expected to put up a strong defense.