Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Government to press for High Court Bench

Thiruvananthapuram: The State Cabinet on Thursday decided to request the Kerala Chief Justice and the Union government to reconsider the State’s demand for a High Court Bench in Thiruvananthapuram.

Addressing a press conference here after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said the Chief Justice had informed the government by a letter dated December 4 that setting up the Bench would not be practical and appropriate.

The Assembly had passed unanimously resolutions seeking the establishment of Thiruvananthapuram Bench.

In the last three years, new High Court Benches were sanctioned for Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh at Madurai, Hubli and Bhopal respectively. But Kerala’s plea was not considered. It was in this context that the government urged the Chief Justice and the Centre to re-examine the issue.

Mr. Achuthanandan said the Cabinet had cleared the proposal of the Ports Department for setting up a Maritime Institute in Mincha panchayat in Manjeswram in Kasaragod district. The panchayat has been authorised to identify the land for the project.

The Chief Minister said the government did not own land in Valiyamala, the new spot for the Indian Space Research Organisation’s space institute and it would have to purchase the land from private parties. This would take some time, but there is no change in the decision. News reports that the Revenue Department had asked the ISRO to make payments was nothing but misleading, generated by vested interests that are active in the ISRO.

Asked about the government order allotting 100 acres to the ISRO, Mr. Achuthanandan said he was not aware of such an order. He said he had asked the Revenue Minister to issue a clarification on decisions of the government.

The Cabinet also decided to include the Marathi community in Kasaragod in the list of Scheduled Tribes. It sanctioned a sum of Rs.2,90,000 as assistance to the seven athletes and two trainers who participated in the Special Olympics held at Shanghai recently. The next of kin of the five victims of the Perumbavur landslip tragedy would get a compensation of Rs.1 lakh each, while the injured person now in hospital would be given Rs.50,000, the Chief Minister said. Another decision of the Cabinet related to providing free ration to 8,248 workers in closed plantations in the State till March 31.

L. Radhakrishnan has been appointed as the new Power Secretary. He would replace Additional Chief Secretary (Power) K.K. Vijay Kumar, who is retiring from service on December 31. Mr. Radhakrishnan would hold additional charge of Devaswom Secretary, the Chief Minister said.

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