Who needs high court in Trivandrum?
March 30th, 2008
An agitation by advocates in Trivandrum is now in "hot" stage. They are demanding a high court bench in Trivandrum. A lot of unions/organizations have expressed their solidarity with lawyers and is very happy to fuel the agitation. Every one says that "common man" in Trivandrum need a high court. But my question is – who are these "common men" who require a high court?
Any one with an IQ level of a snail knows that going to court should be the last resort to resolve any conflict. Cases in India are notorious for dragging on for years. Importantly high court is not the court where cases start. It is an appellate court. Next appellate court is Supreme court which is in New Delhi.
Hiring a lawyer for high court or supreme court is a costly affair. The fee will run into lakhs of rupees. I don’t know how many of these "common men" can afford high court and supreme court fees! Going from Trivandrum to Cochin will be your least worry if you are to fight a case in high court! Anyway if you there is an appeal, you will have to go to New Delhi! So why don’t we demand a supreme court bench in Trivandrum. Why to limit it to High court?
But then who really wants a high court bench in Trivandrum? Obviously the first category is lawyers. They can quickly get good lucrative cases in Trivandrum high court. So it is no wonder they are trying their best including resorting to violence. It may seem funny that the so called "guardians of law" themselves have committed criminal acts which if Indian penal code is to be strictly interpreted will give them years of imprisonment!
The second group of people who want a bench here are the politicians. Politicians are always breaking the law – by blocking the road, by resorting to violence and engaging in all kinds of criminal activities. Now it will be convenient for politicians to attend the high court if it is in Trivandrum.
Now I find it ok if politicians and lawyers want a high court bench in Trivandrum. After all it offers a lot of benefit to them. BUT WHY THE HELL YOU WANT TO DRAG THE FU***G COMMON MAN INTO ALL THIS?
I am at a loss why there isn’t even a "single intellectual" in Kerala who is courageous enough to point this out?
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March 31st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Any idea how many govt offices r running over here, wid t main offices at t capital city… ! Any idea how much the govt is spending an year for conducting all t cases related to these offices at t head court @ cochin? T.A for govt officials & t transportation costs alone wud come to a sizable lump, i must say… Wudnt that alone make it an aboslute necessity to hv a bench here @ tvm? I understand when u say t common man might not be visiting t high court daily… but t expense incurred by t gov alone is a reason enuf to hv it here… the savings must be nothing compared to costs incurred for hvng a bench over here at Tvm…
March 31st, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Do u really think so? Personnally.. me feels that its worth to go ahead & hv a bench here.. t savings wud soon outrun t expenses.. And now can anyone please explain y t govt is still finding it difficult to hv a bench over here.. y shud anyone say no to this???
April 1st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I hope you would get the answers here.
http://tvmrising.blogspot.com/2008/03/join-plea-for-re-establishing-high.html
More than the common man, its the state government that would gain the most from the bench. The above link quantifies the amount that could be saved.
May be dragging common man into this was not so much required, but I dont think that would make the issue less important.
Now, regarding the fees on high court (and of common man). I have a case running in the high court regarding a grant from the government. I havent paid fees in lakhs to the advocate, let alone in thousands. And I think I am a common man
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I am from Western Orissa.When i cameacross this topic i was so much excitingly read this blog and became sad. It is the common man who will get more benefit if a bench of high court would be established at Trivendrum.If anyone oppose to this thought then please ask own heart ,howmany times they have taken shelter before high court? If anyone from Tri’vdom wants to takeshelter before H.C. then obviously might take the help of local lawyers by paying fees and got into a H.C. lawyer.If a bench would be available at the handreach of common people then they shall pay certainly less to have justice.To learn more of exploitation we are suffering at our region, have a click http://wwwhcbench.blogspot.com
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:29 am
This is pure regionalism showing out. If Trivandrum wants a High Court bench, why not Kochiets demand for a Secretariat bench there, let the summer secretariat activities happen in Kochi, the biggest taxpaying city of Kerala. Wouldn’t that be a fair deal? Stop this brag.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Are ou using four letter words to impress others?
June 1st, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Yes
any other question?
June 14th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Once the Vizhinjam Harbour is established Trivandrum will be the largest revenue generator in Kerala.
After the decentralisation of power by the Panchayathi Raj System the dependence on the Secretariat has reduced considerably.
Once the TVM bench is established, the cases in which government is a party will be fast resolved. Keep it in mind that the opposite party in most cases will be an ordinary citizen. so the ultimate benefit will be to him.
Again, since there will be a jurisidictional division between the HC at EKM and TVM bench, faster disposal of cases will happen at both these places.
See what had happened to the GOLF CLUB case. If the case was at TVM bench the situation would have been different.
So it is not regionalism, but public welfare that has more weigh in the demand for the HC bench at TVM
June 18th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Ajay statement is unfortunate. There is no known precedent in India of having a secretariat bench within a state.
Whereas it is an established precedent to have more high court benches in a state. Recent examples are inaugaration of Gulbarga and Hubli high court benches in karnataka( one more in Mangalore under sanction) ; high court bench in Madurai in Tamilnadu ( with two more benches in Coimbatore and Trichy under sanction). The trend is to have high court benches in as many cities as possible to speeden up litigations at lower cost to citizens.
It is unfortunate that Ajay has not understood this fact and is using secretariat bench for tit for tat as high court bench.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Very strange that in Kerala so much opposition for a mere high court bench.Opposition for everything and anything has become a trademark of Kerala.
When more and more high court benches are being sanctioned across the country to counter the delays and rising costs people face with courts, in kerala as usual regionalism and spoilsports are back in place. It is a pity that some high court advocates and politicians are against more benches in Kerala fully knowing that neighbouring states are getting new benches every year. These so called lobbyists have only their business and revenue from the existing High court cases in their minds and donot want to give up their lucrative cases to other benches.
Justice delayed is justice denied. What Kerala badly needs is a high court bench in Trivandrum followed by another one at Kozhikode.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
As the capital of Kerala,Trivandrum certainly needs a high court bench.In majority of cases govt is a litigant and it definetly saves a lot of tax payers money when you have a bench in Trivandrum.It is the requirement of the govt to have a bench here.And who are these people who are against it.
December 25th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Do I understand that all government related cases will be at Trivandrum when the Bench is established?
If so, it would definitely benefit the common man. The petitioners from all the districts north of Kollam will have a good time conducting cases at Trivandrum. Think of the poor Endosulfan victims of Kaargode being able to visit Trivandrum. And the many others – almost 80% of the population. They would have a chance of seeing Trivandrum , if they want to fight a case against the government.
My suggestion is that all important installations of the State also should be moved to Trivandrum. Energy is the most important thing today. Is it not essential that Idukki dam at least, should be near Pattom Vydyuthi Bhavan, so that Board members and officials need not waste public funds to visit the dam?
What about Vallarpadom, Smart City and the like? Why not move all the Collectorates to Trivandrum for better and quicker governance to benefit the common man? For averting killings at Kannur through immediate intervention, Kannur district might be shifted to near the DGP’s office.
The lawyers in Trivandrum courts are known for their integrity [they even remove and substitute underwears produced in evidence]. The Trivandrum bureaucracy are all descended from Raja Harishchandra. As such , at least for a corruption-free judiciary, we must not have just a Bench, but the High Court itself shifted to Trivandrum. People like Sabarinath who might have bail cases, should not suffer any longer having to brief lawyers in far away Kochi.
All bribe-takers in Trivandrum visit Sabarimala devotedly. They, as well as the Devaswam Board, would find it convenient to have Sabarimala brought to Trivandrum. Finally, if somebody like Karunakaran becomes CM, we might have to shift Guruvayoor also.
The people of the State are being duped to benefit a few incompetent lawyers in Trivandrum.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I was going through the interesting arguments in favour of/ against a High Court bench at Trivandrum. There may be many reasons for not allowing a bench at TVM.But, it seems that the most important aspect is money. How many Advocates and Judges are interested in providing justice for the common man ? From the experience of the past 8-9 years, I can clearly tell that our entire system, including judiciary, is corrupt. Common man will never get justice from the High Court.There may be some exceptions. If the Judges of the High Court are not considering what the junior Advocates are submitting and they are hearing only what the Advocates from the Supreme Court are saying, how common man will get justice? See what was the amount paid to the Advocates from Supreme Court in the SNC Lavalin case. I do not understand how common man is benefited by this case. The real culprits will escape prosecution .Can we say that some judges and Advocates are looting the exchequer? Is it not another form of corruption?
The corruption is happening in cases related to Govt. and it is a fact that there is a Mafia syndicate at Kochi for facilitating corruption.[ I am not insulting the Advocates and Judges of the High Court and telling from own experience] If a High Court bench is constituted at TVM, all the cases involving Govt. will be shifted to Trivandrum. Naturally , a new mafia syndicate will come up at Trivandrum . There will be reduction in TA and DA paid to the officials. But, there will be an increase in the fees of lawyers in Trivandrum. So the most important thing- justice for common man at a reasonable rate – remain unresolved.Will it enhance the quality of Judiciary? The main reason for demanding a Bench at Trivandrum is money and the main obstacle for allowing a bench also is money- objection from the lobby at Kochi. The high establishment charge and administrative cost is another reason. So what is the best feasible solution?
I am not an Advocate and wish to view the matter impartially.
Our goal- 1. speedy disposal of the cases. 2. justice for common man at a reasonable cost. 3. no substantial increase in administrative cost.
Now we have Munsif courts, District courts, High courts and Supreme Court. If we are constituting one more higher court, will common man get justice? Surely not. Only the wealthy and influential will get justice.
Is the following suggestions appropriate?
1. All the District courts to be upgraded and given the status of High Court. There will be no increase in administrative cost.
2.The present High court to be upgraded and given the status of supreme court bench.
3.Two more benches of the supreme court to be constituted – one at calicut and one at Trivandrum.
4. The appealing bench at the supreme court should consist of 3 judges. one from the state and two from outside the state. Why should people unnecessarly go to Delhi and pay lakhs as legal fees? The advocates in Delhi, Kochi, Trivandrum and Kozhikode are studying the same law. Are the Advocates of Delhi Supreme court capable of inventing any new law? It is the knowledge of the law, power and ability to analyse the case, ability to interpret the law and communication skill or fluency in English and above all honesty and integrity which makes the Advocates different. Simply by practising in the Supreme court or charging lakhs as fees,one will not become a good lawyer.Advocates should be able to create value based on the above facts.
The biggest corruption Kerala has seen is not Lavalin case. In the Lavalin case, the reported loss is Rs.86 crores. There is another corruption which already wasted over Rs.100 crores and will result in further wastage of crores of rupees in the near future. Even CAG may not be able to find out the actual loss.Unfortunately it was a judicial error.Will the Judges and Lawyers open their mouth against the Advocates who file PIL for facilitating corruption? If the heads of Judiciary, legislature and executive are taking a supporting stand to corruption or protecting persons involved in a corruption, whom shall one approach for justice? I wish to have the comments of Advocates on the matter