In the wake of the move to shift cases from courts in Shivamogga city to Bhadravati owing to many vacancies in judges’ posts at the latter, the District Bar Association has requested that criminal cases be heard at the courts in Shivamogga city itself for the convenience of the general public and advocates.
It may be mentioned here that owing to the transfer of judges in Shivamogga court and the deputation of a few judges for training, it had been planned to shift the cases at different courts in Shivamogga city to courts in Bhadravati. Of the seven Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) courts in Shivamogga, the judges serving in three courts have been promoted and transferred to different places, one judge is on maternity leave while two others have been deputed for training.
It has been planned to shift the cases in these six courts to two courts of the Additional Civil Judge and JMFC in Bhadravati till further arrangements are made. Jayaram, secretary of District Bar Association, has said that as most of the advocates will be appearing for multiple cases in a single day, they will not be able to attend the proceedings in both Shivamogga and Bhadravati. The public will also be inconvenienced if the cases are shifted.
Decision soon
The association has requested the Principal District and Sessions Judge to take measures to arrange for the hearing of criminal cases with the courts of Principal Senior Civil Judge and Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), first Additional Senior Civil Judge and CJM and second Additional Senior Civil Judge and JMFC in Shivamogga. In addition to this, it has been requested to post the hearing of important civil cases to Bhadravati courts and conduct the hearing of remaining cases in Shivamogga courts. The Principal District and Sessions Judge assured that the issue will be discussed with the Administrative Judge of the district.
