Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Centre responsible for High Court Bench, says Law Minister

Photo:S. Mahinsha

PROTEST MEET: Minister for Law M.Vijayakumar inaugurating a campaign on Sunday demanding the setting up of a High Court Bench in the city.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The responsibility for constituting a High Court Bench in the capital is solely with the Central government, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs M. Vijayakumar said on Sunday.

He was speaking here after inaugurating a mass campaign for the constitution of the bench in the city.

“Why is A.K. Antony (Union Minister for Defence), during whose government the legislature has passed a resolution for the setting up of a High Court Bench in the capital city, not showing any interest now?” Mr. Vijayakumar asked. “We have three Union Ministers, including Vayalar Ravi and E. Ahamed at the Centre, why are they not evincing any interest in the issue?” he asked.

Mr. Vijayakumar said that the Kerala High Court is not amenable to the request from the legislature for the constitution of a bench. “A High Court Bench in the capital is our right. We have even raised the issue before the Prime Minister a number of times. It is not the Left Democratic Front government that is lacking the political will,” he said referring to reports from a section of the media, which blamed the State government for its lack of initiative.

Varkala Radhakrishnan, MP, said that it was the prerogative of the State government to decide where a court should function. “The judiciary can decide how it functions, but it is the right of the legislature to decide where it should function as their financial requirements are met by the government,” said. Mr. Radhakrishnan. Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Kadakampally Surendran presided over the function.

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