Southern States - Karnataka   

Bench location left to Chief Justice

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE SEPT. 23. The Karnataka Government has made it clear that it will not be involved in identifying the city in north Karnataka where a Bench of the High Court may be located and has said that it is the responsibility of the Chief Justice.

The Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, D.B. Chandre Gowda, told presspersons here today that it was also for the Chief Justice to decide whether to set up a permanent Bench or to organise a circuit Bench. While the Chief Justice was empowered to constitute a circuit Bench, in the case of a permanent Bench he could make the recommendations and it was for the President to grant the final approval.

The Chief Justice had called upon the State Government to evolve a consensus on the location of the permanent Bench. The Bar associations in various districts of north Karnataka, particularly in Gulbarga and Hubli, have demanded that the Bench be located in their respective cities.

Mr. Gowda said the State Government had already brought the matter to the notice of the Chief Justice both formally and informally and, if necessary, it would once again convey to him that it was for him to decide on the location and that the Government would abide by his decision. Once the Chief Justice decided on the city where a permanent Bench could be set up, the State Government would provide the infrastructure, he said. The Minister said there could not be a political decision on the location of the Bench. Further the Government would also not involve itself in evolving a consensus among the various regions of north Karnataka which had been demanding the constitution of a Bench of the High Court in their respective places. "In the name of evolving a consensus, we would not like to create fresh problems. The Chief Justice has already called upon the advocates to return to courts in the interest of litigants and that the location of the Bench could be finalised peacefully. The Government has a limited role in the matter.''

Encroachment

Referring to the encroachment of forest and revenue lands and the directions of the Supreme Court to evict the encroachers, Mr. Gowda said the Union Government should have first paid attention to the rehabilitation of the people living on forest lands before declaring the formation of national parks, particularly the Kudremukh National Park. Some of the families in the national park had been residing there for generations and they could not be called encroachers.

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