Calcutta, Feb. 17: The circuit bench of Calcutta High Court may start functioning by April with the government approving the Jalpaiguri Zilla Parishad bungalow as the temporary location.
The state judiciary and the law department have already conveyed the decision to the Centre.
According to law department sources, the Centre will have to introduce a Bill during the budget session of Parliament, which began today, to amend the existing State Re-organisation Act. The bench could start functioning at the site once the amendment is passed and thegazette notification issued.
“The process will be complete by April,” the sources claimed.
The government has also approved the high court’s proposal to set up a permanent circuit bench in north Bengal at a location close to the Assam More in Jalpaiguri. Construction will begin only after the Centre sanctions the funds, the sources said.
The circuit bench has been a long-standing demand of the region’s six districts. The Centre and the Supreme Court had also directed the state government and Calcutta High Court to initiate steps in this regard.
Union law minister Arun Jaitley, during his visit to the city last week, had requested chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to send the necessary approval to the Centre. “We will not make any further delays in the process,” Jaitley had assured Bhattacharjee.
According to high court sources, four judges would take turns in sitting for hearings at the temporary site. Each judge would stay for 15 days in Jalpaiguri. After the permanent bench is set up, a total of 12 judges will be sent to hear the cases, the sources added.
The government had chosen two sites for the circuit bench — the European Club and the zilla parishad bungalow.
An on-the-spot survey was conducted by a team of three judges of Calcutta High Court, which prepared a report based on the visit.
The report was placed in a full court meeting of the high court judges last month. After discussing all the factors, it was decided that the bungalow would be best suited for housing the bench.
