The state government’s apathy has resulted in the delay in setting up the Kerala Administrative Tribunal(KAT) Bench at Ernakulam, submitted the Tribunal registrar before the Kerala High Court on Tuesday. The registrar made the submission in response to a petition filed by Advocate Basil Attipetty seeking a directive to set up a KAT Bench at Ernakulam. A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A M Shaffique sought the view of the state government in this regard and posted the hearing of the case to Monday.
“Setting up a court building for the Bench is the duty of the government. The tribunal has taken all steps to complete the legal formalities for its functioning in the seventh court hall which is presently the office of the Advocate-General. However, the administrative sanction for the estimated work amount, close to Rs 34,00,000, is yet to be granted by the government,” T V Anilkumar, KAT registrar said. The registrar also sought a directive to the state government to accord administrative sanction to the PWD for the estimated amount and to execute the work. According to Anilkumar, the Tribunal has been putting pressure on the government to provide the building and the requisite infrastructure for establishing the Bench. The Tribunal does not have funds, manpower and the expertise to execute the work.
“The Tribunal chairman and the officials had a discussion with the Superintending Engineer of the PWD regarding the remodeling work on the premises of the seventh court hall. Later, the PWD prepared a sketch of the proposed court hall. Owing to the delay in the allocation of funds, the work has slowed down,” the registrar said.