High Court staff eagerly await Chief Justice’s maiden visit

Expect him to give solutions to problems plaguing them

November 12, 2014 01:24 pm | Updated April 09, 2016 09:44 am IST - MADURAI:

Leaking overhead water tanks on top of almost all the buildings on Madras High Court Bench Staff Quarters campus in Madurai. Photo: S. Jamesa

Leaking overhead water tanks on top of almost all the buildings on Madras High Court Bench Staff Quarters campus in Madurai. Photo: S. Jamesa

The proposed visit of Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul to the High Court Bench here on Wednesday, his first since assuming office on July 26, has evoked enthusiasm among the court employees who look to him for solutions to the problems plaguing them.

Their problems include an amendment to the Madras High Court Service Rules on July 26, 2013, providing 75 per cent reservation in the gazetted posts of Deputy Registrar and Assistant Registrar for employees possessing academic law degrees that are not recognised by bar councils for letting a person to practise as an advocate.

“It is unfortunate that the reservation has been increased from 25 to 75 per cent. We don’t understand how a B.A.L. (Bachelor of Academic Law) degree can be equated with B.L. (Bachelor of Law) degree. The amendment has led to a pitiable situation of B.L. degree holders now wanting to enrol in B.A.L. course, through correspondence, just to get promoted,” a court staff lamented.

Another employee said the court staff here had been working with outdated computers and dot-matrix printers “that had become almost extinct in the rest of the world… The most affected are the Personal Assistants to Judges. The laptops promised to them by the previous Chief Justices had not reached them yet.”

The other issue that had been bothering the employees was poor quality of construction of their residential quarters at Mattuthavani. The buildings were declared open in December 2012, even before they were ready for occupation, and got allotted to the employees months thereafter. “It is hardly 18 months since they were handed over to us and we are expecting them to collapse anytime,” an employee said.

Almost all the overhead water tanks on the four-storey buildings were suffering from excessive dampness caused by improper water proofing. The tanks had also started leaking on the parapet walls, weakening the entire structure. “Tile flooring in many bathrooms on top floors had given way and led to leakage from the ceilings of bathrooms on the floors beneath them,” a resident said.

“The walls of the houses are so fragile that we cannot even imagine of driving a nail into them… Many elevators in the campus are lying idle due to mechanical problems. People living on the third and fourth floors are the most affected. The aged, children with schoolbags and domestic gas delivery boys are finding it very difficult to climb the stairs,” a court officer added.

Wondering why should they suffer such a plight despite paying rent for the accommodation, besides a substantial amount towards maintenance, the staff said the campus was also not safe as it had been an easy target for antisocial elements on more than one occasion. To safeguard themselves, the staff had engaged private security guards by spending around Rs.26,000 a month.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.