Three NE states to get own HCs

Three northeastern states – Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya – would get their own full-fledged high courts by next month as the required formalities are almost complete, an official here said Monday.

‘The Supreme Court is expected to take a final decision about the chief justices of the proposed high courts within this week. After the appointment of the chief justices, there would be no major hurdles in setting up the high courts,’ Datamohan Jamatia, secretary, Tripura law department, . He said: ‘The Tripura government already has all the necessary infrastructure to set up a separate high court in Agartala.’

‘We expect the new high court to be set up by December or January. Now it is up to the apex court and the union law and justice ministry to issue the necessary notification for the purposes,’ the official added.

Another senior official said Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, in a recent letter to the union ministry of law and justice, has requested the appointment of at least five judges in the new high courts so that divisional benches can function besides single benches.

The obligatory amendments were passed by the LS and the RS in May.