‘File report on infra funds’

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed state Chief Secretary to submit a report with documents by September 17 on the delay in meeting essential infrastructure requirements of the court.

The order came from a division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi after the top bureaucrat, appearing virtually, failed to give a satisfactory explanation for the lapses.

The bench reminded the chief secretary that the state government was legally bound to bear the administrative expenses of the High Court. Justice Basak also noted that the setting up of a health centre on the ground floor of the High Court premises, sanctioned earlier, was still pending.

During the hearing, the chief secretary submitted that the government was releasing Rs 10 crore out of the requisitioned Rs 17.41 crore for the work. He sought a week’s time to initiate the process. The division bench told him that requisition documents would be resent to his office by Thursday evening to facilitate immediate action.