WB keen for quick inauguration of Jalpaiguri circuit bench

The Jalpaiguri circuit bench of Calcutta High Court has been the demand of the people of north Bengal for over 40 years and the West Bengal government is looking forward to its quick inauguration, a senior official said today.

"Once it is inaugurated, then the people of this region (north Bengal) will be benefited immensely. We are eager for quick inauguration of it," the official told reporters at the state secretariat here.

The circuit bench will be temporarily housed at the Jalpaiguri zilla parishad dak bungalow, which has been refurbished for the purpose, another state government official had told PTI earlier this week.

The state administration is trying to fix the date for holding the inauguration programme of the circuit bench on September 10 and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to inaugurate it, he had said.

The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya along with four other senior judges, state Law Minister Moloy Ghatak and state Tourism minister Goutam Deb had made an inspection of the preparations at the dak bungalow last week.

The senior judges would now submit a report on their inspection of the Jalpaiguri dak bungalow after which a full court decision would be taken.

The President would then make a formal notification for the setting up and inauguration of a circuit bench, the official said.

A petition was moved before the Calcutta High Court on July 26 questioning the propriety of the chief minister's announcement that its circuit bench at Jalpaiguri will be inaugurated on August 17.

The petitioner's lawyer had claimed before Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty that the chief minister of a state cannot make such an announcement on a decision which is to be taken by the high court itself.

It is for a full court meeting of judges of the high court to make a decision on setting up of a circuit bench, the petitioner's counsel Bikash Bhattacharya had submitted.

After a full court decision, the President makes a formal notification for the setting up and inauguration of a circuit bench, he had claimed before Justice Chakraborty.

Banerjee and the then Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Justice J N Patel had laid the foundation stone for the circuit bench in September 2012 on 40 acres of land provided by the state government.