A proposal made over a year ago to set up 15 temporary magistrate courts in Ernakulam has been delayed with the State government yet to take any action. The 13 Finance Commission had allotted funds for setting up 27 new temporary courts in the State, 16 of them in Ernakulam district, five in Kollam, four at Thirvuananthapuram, and one each in Kozhikode and Thrissur.
The government had initially planned to set up 74 new evening courts in the State. Considering the needs of the judicial system, the government in an order passed in November 2012 decided to set up 27 magistrate courts and a few evening courts. In July this year, the High Court completed a final report with details regarding the location, necessary staff strength, and other recommendations. Though the High Court sent several reminders, no action had been taken towards setting up the courts, court officials said.
Pending casesOf the proposed courts, 24 are Judicial First Class Magistrate Courts, and three deal with cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act. The new courts were proposed to deal with the high number of cases currently pending in magistrate courts in the State. According to the High Court report, less than 40 per cent of cases reaching the courts are disposed of within a year. Ernakulam district ranked highest in the number of pending cases.
