The Calicut Bar Association has demanded that the Centre and the State governments take immediate steps for constituting a Bench of the Kerala High Court in Kozhikode.
A resolution adopted at the general body meeting of the association held here on Monday said it was the long-standing demand of the people of the erstwhile Malabar that a Bench of the High Court be established in Kozhikode. This demand had been raised by various organisations and the Kozhikode Corporation for several years. But it had not materialised so far.
The resolution also pointed out that on the contrary a committee consisting of five judges of the High Court had been formed to get “a report for the purpose of establishing a Bench in Thiruvananthapuram” sabotaging all the judicial pronouncement in this regard. Such a move would be detrimental to the larger interest of the people of north Kerala. This committee should be dissolved without delay, the resolution said.
The resolution also urged the High Court, Supreme Court, the State government and the Centre to take appropriate action for setting up a Circuit Bench in Kozhikode.
Advocate P.P. Radhakrishan moved the resolution. P.T. Sreenarayanan Unni, Mathew Kattikana, P. Damodara Menon and Manjith spoke supporting the resolution. Association president N. Bhaskaran Nair presided over the general body meeting and secretary B.N. Binesh Babu and vice-president T.V. Pradeepkumar spoke.
Long-standing demand
The setting up of a High Court Bench in the city has been a long-standing demand of the City Corporation as well. The council had earlier unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that a High Court Bench be set up in Kozhikode so as to benefit the people in the six districts of north Kerala.
An all-party meeting was held and a delegation had met the Chief Minister in the State capital and submitted a memorandum in this regard. Subsequently a convention of the residents of Kozhikode was also held.
Many had then opined that the move to establish a High Court Bench in Thiruvananthapuram would make life miserable for the people of north Kerala since all cases related to government matters would be shifted to the capital. At present the people needed to go only up to Kochi, they said.
