ARIYALUR: The delay in the construction of a new district court building is posing untold hardship, say advocates. "Now we have to put up with the dilapidated old building in Ariyalur town where even the court proceedings are affected during rains due to leakage of water," they complain.
The district court started functioning in the 100-year-old building of the Ariyalur munsif court after the Ariyalur district was carved out of Perambalur in 2007. The principal district and session court, additional district and sessions court, principal sub court, district munsif and additional district munsif and judicial magistrate courts I and II are in the court complex.
Also, the district legal aid counsel and mediation centre are based here. Moreover, the mahila and additional mahila court, additional sub court, family court and chief judicial magistrate court are based in rented buildings 1.5 km from the court complex at various places in Ariyalur.
Bar Association district secretary V Muthu Kumaran said, “Judges, advocates and people are suffering due to lack of adequate space in the existing building. There is no place to sit or wait on the premises. The toilets are inadequate and poorly maintained.”
“The district court is also essential like the collector’s office in a district. Citing lack of funds, the government has ignored Ariyalur and allocated funds for the construction of court buildings in other districts. We hope CM MK Stalin will announce this during his visit,” he added. Bar Association district president R Manogaran said,
“As courts are digitised, every court comes with a lot of expensive equipment. There is no space here to maintain it. Also, as some courts operate in rented buildings, it is difficult to travel to other places during court hearings. Government money is also wasted by paying rent of more than Rs 2.5 lakh.”
Advocates in the district had staged several protests and filed numerous petitions to the state government demanding a new court complex. Based on their demands, the land for the new district-combined court building was identified in 2022-23.
The PWD estimated Rs 161.37 crore as the project cost and it was sent to the government through the Madras High Court. However, the funds have not been allocated and it has been put on hold for years. Despite attempts by TNIE, District Collector P Rathinasamy was not available for comment.