Judicial vacancies need to be filled to reduce pending cases: Mamata

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took a dig at the Centre and said that fresh appointments should take place to reduce the pendency of cases before the courts and bring down the "sufferings" of the common man.

Speaking at the foundation stone laying programme of the new complex of the Calcutta High Court at New Town on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said: "There are many pending cases. But as I gathered from the Chief Justice that there are no appointment-related pending works here. However, there are many in Delhi." Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya was also present at the event.

"I would like to mention that if the infrastructure is not developed and if vacancies are not filed up then the ultimate sufferers will be the common man. There are lakhs of cases and it would take 50 to 100 years for them to be resolved," Banerjee said adding that the Government of India needs to work with the Supreme Court and High Courts with proper coordination in this connection.

While speaking about her government's initiative taken to develop the necessary infrastructure, the Chief Minister said: "Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench is almost ready. It was a long-pending demand of the locals. A large section of people from North Bengal will be benefitted with the setting up of the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench."

While speaking about the new complex of the Calcutta High Court at New Town, the Chief Minister maintained that the state government has allotted the land within 24 hours of the proposal given in this connection. "I had called up state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim and directed Debashis Sen, Chairman and MD of WBHIDCO, to identify a plot for the new complex of the High Court. Within half-an-hour, the land was identified and following subsequent processes, the Cabinet gave its approval," the Chief Minister said adding that the work has been done out of social responsibility. "We are having a huge loan burden of Rs 48,000 crore. Despite that, the move has been taken up considering a better future for which development of necessary infrastructure is absolutely crucial," she said.

It may be mentioned that the state government gave 10 acres of land in New Town at Re 1 to the Calcutta High Court for construction of the new complex.

She further said that besides the High Court, steps would also be taken for the development of the infrastructure of the district and sub-divisional courts. "But it would not be possible to carry out the entire work in one go. So the work will be taken up in phases," the Chief Minister added.