Court Infrastructure Sabotaged By Red Tapism: Kerala High Court Pulls Up Govt Over 24 Years Delay In Constructing Idukki Court Complex

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday condemned the government's red-tapism which lead to a delay of 24 years in constructing a District Court Complex in Idukki. 

Justice P.V Kunhikrishnan while directing the State to expeditiously transfer land for the construction of the court complex, observed:

"The trial courts are the backbone of the Indian Judiciary. They are the decision-makers in a lis. The appellate courts are only judging their decisions. If there is no proper infrastructure and proper atmosphere for the decision-makers in the trial courts, that will be a threat to the justice delivery system itself. The present case is one such case, which will show the sorry state of affairs as far as the infrastructure of a court and the attempt to solve the issue is sabotaged because of red tape rules."

The Court also quoted certain observations made by Chief Justice of India N.V Ramana in a recent speech:

"Good Judicial infrastructure for courts in India has always been an afterthought. It is because of this mindset that courts in India still operate from dilapidated structures, making it difficult to effectively perform their function. Judicial infrastructure is important for improving access to justice and to meet the growing demands of the public that is more aware of its rights and is developing economically, socially and culturally. It is baffling to note that the improvement and maintenance of judicial infrastructure are still being carried out in an ad-hoc and unplanned manner."

The Single Judge was adjudicating upon a plea filed by the Bar Association of Idukki raising its members' grievances regarding the fact that the three courts and attached offices in the district have been functioning with limited facilities.

The petitioners argued that it has been the long-standing dream of the lawyers, advocate clerks, and other litigant public to get a court building for the courts and its offices.

According to the petitioners, the idea of such construction was initially proposed in 1997 when the President of the Idukki Bar Association submitted a request to the Idukki Development Authority.

In 1988, the Authority issued an order affirming advance possession of two acres to the Registrar of the High Court for the construction of a judicial complex subject to the approval of the Government.

While the Authority was abolished in 2007, a request for approval and transfer of land was sent by the Registrar (Subordinate Judiciary) to the Addl. Chief Secretary of the Home Department.

Based on this request, the State government passed an order in 2019 which stated that the ownership of the land will be retained with the District Panchayat and permission was granted for using the land for the purpose of constructing a judicial complex.

However, in 2021, the government passed a new order cancelling the 2019 order and stated that to hand over the necessary land for constructing the judicial complex, a fresh proposal is to be submitted by the Panchayat Director to the government.

According to the petitioner, there is no justification for passing the 2021 order which purportedly does not contain the reasons for cancelling the previous order and was issued without hearing the petitioner or the High Court

Therefore, they approached the High Court seeking orders to quash the 2021 order and directions to the authority concerned to initiate appropriate steps to construct a judicial complex at Idukki.

Standing Counsel for the High Court supported the grievances of the petitioner and requested that any further delay on technical ground may be ruled out by this Court.

While the Government Pleader argued that it was right in issuing the 2021 order, the Court stated that it cannot endorse the said stand of the government without hearing the stakeholders. It questioned the government's reasoning for cancelling the 2019 order only two years later.

However, it appreciated the submission of the government that it would not stand in the way of allocating the required land in accordance with the law.

The Court opined that the State government can issue the necessary direction to the Revenue Department to do the needful to see that the land referred in the 2019 order itself is allotted for the construction of the court complex at Idukki within a time frame.

Accordingly, the Court directed the government to issue the necessary orders within six weeks, after which the competent authorities are directed to see that the construction of the court complex is completed immediately.

It was concluded as such:

"Idukki is one of the important districts in our State... As I observed earlier, without proper judicial infrastructure and a proper atmosphere to administer justice, the judiciary can not function. I am sure that the Government will cooperate with the High Court and will see that the dream of the Idukki people to get a new court complex is fulfilled soon." 

ADVOCATES GEORGE MATHEW M.D.SASIKUMARAN MATHEW K.T. SUNIL KUMAR A.G GEORGE K.V. PRAVEEN S. DIPU JAMES STEPHY K REGI represented the Petitioners.

ADVOCATES JOICE GEORGE SRI, B.G.HARINDRANATH , SMT.DEEPA NARAYANAN represented the respondents

Case Title: Bar Association v. State of Kerala & Ors

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