Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Lawyers step up drive for High Court Bench

Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

RALLYING CRY: A demonstration organised by members of the Trivandrum Bar Association in front of the Secretariat on Friday, demanding restoration of the High Court Bench to the city. —

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Members of the Trivandrum Bar Association stepped up the campaign for a High Court Bench in the capital city by launching a satyagragha in front of the Secretariat on Friday.

The constitution of a High Court Bench has been a long-standing demand of the Bar association members.

C.K. Seetharam, president of the association, said Thiruvananthapuram was the seat of the erstwhile Travancore High Court. However, after the reorganisation of the States, the court was shifted to Ernakulam. Though a Bench was retained here, it was not functioning. “Our demand is that this Bench be restored,” he said.

Inaugurating the dharna, P. Viswambharan, former MP, said the opinion of the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court on setting up a Bench here was not decisive or final. “All that is required is political pressure and willpower on the part of the State government to influence the Indian President and urge her to utilise the powers vested in her to constitute the Bench,” he said. “A decision in this regard should be taken by the State government before a change in the government at the Centre,” Mr. Viswambharan said. He cited the spirited struggle carried out by the lawyers of Madurai for several months, including boycott of legal proceedings, for the constitution of a High Court Bench there.

Members of the association said the constitution of a Bench, either single or division, could save the State exchequer up to Rs.30 crore by cutting down travel expenses and prevent any communication gap in conveying information about the day-to-day proceedings at the High Court.

The members said as per the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, the President may, after consultation with the Governor of a new State and the Chief Justice of the High Court, provide for the establishment of a permanent Bench or Benches of the High Court.

The State Legislature had also unanimously accepted the need for a High Court Bench here, they said. Almost all the State capitals in the country have a High Court.

The dharna was attended by V.S. Sivakumar, president of the District Congress Committee; Ramachandran Nair, district secretary of the Communist Party of India; and T.K. Ananthakrishnan, secretary of the association.

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