Take Decision On Proposal To Allot Space In Vacant Govt Building For HC Offices : Karnataka High Court To State

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Oka in its order dated (July 8) said "The order dated 21st June 2021 contains a direction to the State Government to take an appropriate decision on the said proposal within a period of two weeks. The Additional Government Advocate states that he has not received any information about the decision taken. We direct the Chief Secretary of the State Government to personally look into this aspect and ensure that the decision of the State Government is placed on record within a maximum period of two weeks from today."

The direction was given during the hearing of a petition filed by advocate RAMESH NAIK L. The petition states that the use of the basement in the High Court building as offices is contrary to law. It is prayed for a direction against the State Government to make additional space available to the High Court, so that the use of the basement for office purposes can be immediately stopped.

The court said "We have perused the orders passed from time to time by this Court. Several steps taken by the High Court administration for shifting sections of the offices of the High Court from the basement have been placed on record. A proposal was submitted by the High Court administration to the State Government to allot vacant premises in the building of the Directorate Technical Education for shifting some of the sections of the offices of the High Court."

Further, it said "From 11th February 2021 onwards, time was granted to the State Government to place on record the decision taken by the State Government on the said proposal. In fact, the order dated 26th May 2021 records a grievance of the petitioner appearing in person in W.P. No.52022/2019 that the State Government is dragging the matter for a considerably long time."

The court has now posted the matter for further hearing on July 22.