Mangaluru: There is a long standing demand for the establishment of the circuit bench of the Honorable High Court of Karnataka in the coastal area. Recently, High Court Permanent bench Horata samithi was formed with Ivan DSouza MLC as its Convenor. Under his Convenorship various associations were contacted and meetings were held with various fractions of the society.
In this connections various meetings were held and demand to establish Permanent bench was submitted to various authorities by various organizations. Recently Karnataka Chief minister Honorable Siddaramaiaha has called for the establishment of Bench of the Supreme Court of India in South India since it is essential for ensuring timely justice by decentralization . Speaking at the 22nd Bienneil state level conference of judicial officers on Saturday April 18th, Siddaramaiah said there is a strong and compelling need to improve access to justice and flagged the growing backlog of cases as a serious concern affecting the timely delivery of justice. His remarks come amid renewed discussions on judicial reforms and access to justice.
Inspired by the statement of chief minister, the Coastal Karnataka High court Circuit Bench Horata Samithi led by M.P Noronha, PRO of the High Court permanent Bench Horata Samithi and Principal District Government Pleader, Mangalore Bar Association President and President of the High Court permanent Bench Horata Samithi, H V Raghavendra Rao, and President of Bantwal Bar Association and D.K. District Bar Association, Richard DCosta M, met Sri Abdul Nazeer, Retired justice of Supreme Court and present Governor of Andra Pradesh and sought guidance in the matter. Abdul Nazeer, gave valuable guidance and inputs on the route map to be followed in order to establish the permanent bench of the High Court. He also assured his whole hearted support and co-operation to the committee for the establishment of the Permanent Bench in Mangaluru. Subsequently the Committee also met Honorable Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Government of Karnataka, Sri. U. T. Khader Faridh, who also wrote letter requesting chief justice of Karnataka, to establish a circuit bench of Karnataka in Mangaluru, and to take appropriate steps in this regard. The delegation led by M.P Noronha, H V Raghavendra Rao, and Richard DCosta M met Honorable Justice Vibhu Bakhru, chief justice of High court of Karnataka, regarding the establishment of permanent bench in the coastal Karnataka and till permanent bench is established to establish circuit bench At mangaluru initially comprising one Division Bench and two Single Benches. Chief justice after discussing in detail has assured to look into the matter and either to inspect personally and call for a report regarding availability of the existing facilities and requirements if any for any additional infrastructure. In order to inspect the availability of infrastructure, the chief Justice said he would form a committee for establishment of Circuit bench and would verify regarding the availability of infrastructure. Further he also assured the committee that either he or the administrative judge for D.K. District would visit the district in the following days and would personally inspect on priority basis. The delegation then met the administrative judge Hon’ble Justice Harekoppa Thimmana Gowda Narendra Prasad. The administrative judge positively responded to the members of the delegation and assured his full support towards the establishment of the Bench at Mangaluru. The members of the Delegation then met Honorable Justice Rajesh Rai K. who hails from the District and requested his support towards the establishment of the Bench at Mangaluru. Justice Rai, positively responded to the members and assured his full co-operation. High Court advocate Ajay Melrick Noronha accompanied the members of the delegation.
Advocate fraternity, various organizations and general public of the coastal region have welcomed the said move.