High Court bench in the Capital

Numerous posts have been published in various forums on the establishment of a high court bench in the capital. The indefinite satyagraha by the lawyers of Trivandrum have snowballed into a mass agitation. The whole issue has been raked up even in the parliament and is fast becoming a Trivandrum-Kochi fight ( for all the wrong reasons).

First and foremost, there is no logic in saying "NO" to sanctioning the bench in Trivandrum. It is the state capital and it deserves better treatment. Barring a few north eastern states, Trivandrum has to bear the ignominy of the only state capital without a high court or a bench. Most of the cases being handled by the apellate court have the State government as one party. It is ridiculous to have even maintained the high court in Kochi for these many years. Imagine the expenditure the government has to bear in the form of TA and DA when government officials or ministers have to commute to Kochi just for attending a session of the High court. In most cases, they may be required in the court for a max of 15 mts. For this , they have to commute 5 hours and be out of the office for at least a day. Just calculate the amount of man power wasted and the cost on the exchequer.

By default, the high court itself should have been headquartered in Trivandrum. This is both logical and economical. A few decades have passed and it is not prudent to uproot an establishment in one go. But, definitely, the state capital deserves the bench. Kudos to all who are fighting for it. I am sure we will win this fight not for the city but for the state and the tax payers of the state.