UP govt giving lame excuses to defend inaction on improving court infrastructure: Allahabad High Court

A seven-judge Bench of the Allahabad High Court recently came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government on issues pertaining to the infrastructure and functioning of courts in the State..Highlighting an instance of this, the Court remarked,"No waiting areas nor even washroom facilities are available to the children attending the proceeding in the Special Courts.".The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justices Pritinker Diwaker, Naheed Ara Moonis, Manoj Misra, Sunita Agarwal, Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Manoj Kumar Gupta berated the State government for giving "lame excuses" to defend its inaction. "No decision of the State Government is forthcoming though the inaction on the part of the State was sought to be defended by giving lame excuses in the Court. We express our dissatisfaction in the manner in which the officers of the State are progressing on the serious issues pertaining to functioning of the Courts in the State of UP," the Bench lamented..The Court was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) petition registered in 2015, after the functioning of the Court was hindered/interrupted by unruly advocates. In May 2019, it had passed directions regarding creation of blueprints for availability of court rooms, chambers, ancillary amenities and residences for the judicial officers, for the entire subordinate judiciary.The administrative committee of the High Court had directed district judges to co-ordinate with District Magistrates to identify such lands which are needed and can be made available for creation of adequate infrastructure in subordinate courts. However, as noted by the Bench,"No effective action has been taken in the matter though repeated reminders have been sent. In many districts, process of acquisition has not been completed though much time has been elapsed.".In its order passed last week, the Bench noted the lack of basic infrastructure, for which the judiciary is dependent upon the State government. It also expressed its displeasure over the working of special courts across the State."The Special POCSO Courts designated by the State Government are forced to work in the common Court premises with no special facility for the child victim. No waiting areas nor even washroom facilities are available to the children attending the proceeding in the Special Courts," the Court said..Additional Advocate General appearing for the State informed the Court that a special team of experts would be deputed for regular monitoring of the security system and related issues at these courts.In response, the Court said,"We expect that the appropriate action shall be taken, as agreed by the State, expeditiously.".The Court also pointed out that no effective action has been taken in the matter related to the allotment of land to subordinate courts for court complexes and residential accommodation."Although repeated reminders have been sent, in many districts, process of acquisition has not been completed though much time has been elapsed.".Other suggestions made by the Court related to benefits to retired judges, transfer of cases relating to the old Land Acquisition Act of 1894 so as to ensure optimum utilization of resources, and appointment of a Nodal Officer to act as a bridge between the Registrar General and several departments of the Secretariat of the State government, were also unheeded, the Court pointed out. On the second issue, the Court remarked,"No decision of the State Government is forthcoming though the inaction on the part of the State was sought to be defended by giving lame excuses in the Court."In response, Advocate General Raghvendra Singh assured the Court that an immediate decision would be taken on the issue of benefits for retired judges on or before the next date of listing. On all other issues, the he assured the Court that he would coordinate with the officers of the concerned departments, be it the District Magistrates at the local level or the senior-most officers of the Secretariat/departments of the State government..On this assurance given by the AG, the matter was adjourned and will be heard again on October 27. .[Read order]