A file picture of Calcutta High Court

Siliguri, Oct. 29: The Darjeeling district judge has started examining the problems at the seven courts in the district with the aim to dispose of pending cases as early as possible and also to improve the work environment there.

The move follows a recent Calcutta High Court order received by the top judicial authority in the district.

District judge B.C. Paul held a closed-door meeting with the magistrates of different courts in the district yesterday to discuss problems related to the courts, a source in the Siliguri court said. Magistrates of the courts at Gorubathan, Mirik, Mangpoo, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Siliguri and Darjeeling were present at the meeting.

Paul said such meetings would be organised every month at different courts in the district by rotation, where the magistrates of different area would present the monthly reports of their respective courts.

“Our aim is to give momentum to court activities and also address the pending cases as early as possible. During scrutiny, if we find that disposal of any case or cases were being unnecessarily delayed, we will shift these cases to the high court,” Paul said.

Court sources said long pending issues, like the appointment of two magistrates at the additional district judge second court and the first court, were also brought up for discussion at the meeting.

Hundreds of cases are lying without judgment in the Siliguri additional district second court for the past one year, as there is no magistrate to hear them and pass verdicts, the source said. Making the situation worse, the magistrate of the Siliguri additional district first court was transferred some four months ago. Since then a good number of undertrials in this court have been spending their days in the jail without trial, the source added.

Paul has reportedly promised that magistrates would be appointed for these courts, making things easier there.

“The district judge has assured us a few days ago that within two weeks two new magistrates would be appointed in these courts,” said Arun Sarkar, the president of Siliguri Bar Association.

“The present situation cannot continue for long. Several appeals made by the lawyers for the appointment of magistrates in these courts have failed to get any positive response. We hope that our request to the chief justice, V.S. Shirpurkar, and the district judge’s commitment would yield a positive result and the long pending cases would be cleared,” Sarkar said.