Vacancies in High Courts in the country will be filled, once the constitution of the National Judicial Appointments Commission is completed, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, E.M.Sudarsana Natchiappan, said here on Saturday. The committee held discussions with officials of the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority, who included the Member-Secretary, R.M.T.Teekaraman, on the functioning of the organisation, and the Chief Secretary, K.Gnanadesikan, Director-General of Police, Ashok Kumar, and Coast Guard officials, on the attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy and the ways to find a solution to the problem.
Mr.Natchiappan appreciated the services of the authority in providing legal aid and in the highest disposal of cases through Lok Adalats in the country. After the meeting, Mr.Natchiappan said steps were being taken to fill vacancies in the higher judiciary. Now that the President had given his assent to the NJAC Bill, the formation of the Commission was on.
The Chairman said the demands for renaming the Madras High Court as Tamil Nadu High Court and for introducing Tamil as the official language of the High Court here were under active consideration by the government.
As regards the attacks on Indian fishermen, Mr.Sudarsana Natchiappan said there should be an immediate responsive system which called for a more effective coordination between various agencies such as the Coast Guard, the police, Ministries of Home and Foreign Affairs. The committee had already heard the views of the fishermen in the matter. The panel would submit its report to Parliament.
