The high court sought a report from chief secretary Manoj Pant on Thursday regarding why the government had not disbursed the funds allocated for the development of correctional homes and courts.
Pant had appeared virtually before the division bench headed by Justice Debangshu Basak on Thursday.
The division bench had asked him to clarify the government’s stand on certain pending projects.
The chief secretary said that he had been out of state since August 28 and would be able to answer the query after obtaining the necessary information.
Justice Basak said: “This court administration had two years ago sent a requisition of ₹17.41 crore to install CCTV cameras in the courtrooms. Why did your government not disburse the amount yet?”
At this, Pant said that ₹10 crore out of the ₹17.47 crore for CCTVs was being disbursed on Thursday itself.
“This is not a question of ₹10 or ₹17 crore. Do you know that this court is suffering an acute shortage of cartridges and papers? Do you have any idea how many requisitions have been pending for years? How can a court run without paper?” Justice Basak said.
A lawyer informed the judge that the government was supposed to disburse money for the implementation of at least 55 projects.
Justice Basak then asked about the status of the construction of a proposed
health centre on the ground floor of the main high court building.
“Even after issuing an order from this court last December, why did the state fail to renovate the high court and different lower court buildings?” the judge asked.
Justice Basak sought a “comprehensive report” on all the issues. The chief secretary sought a week to prepare the report.
The judge asked court officials to send documents relating to the pending work to Pant by Thursday evening.
The bench fixed September 17 for the next hearing.
The bench was hearing a writ petition seeking the court’s attention to the conditions of correctional homes and inmates across the state.