Calcutta HC questions Bengal govt's delay in providing funds for infra maintenance for lower courts

Kolkata, Sep 11 (IANS) A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday questioned the reluctance of the state government in providing funds for the infrastructure development as well as betterment of different lower and district courts in the state.

The hearing on a petition filed came up at the division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi on Thursday which was virtually attended by the state Chief Secretary, Manoj Pant.

During the hearing, the division bench raised several questions for the Chief Secretary like pending funds of Rs 17 crore from the state government for the infrastructure development and betterment for lower and district courts in the state,

The main charge against the state government was that several infrastructure related work at different courts in the state, including some at Calcutta High Court, were pending because of lack of funds that are due from the state government.

The division bench asked the Chief Secretary to specify the date by when the state government would release the necessary funds for that purpose.

The division bench wanted to know when the work related to the installation of CCTV cameras and preservation of their footage at different courts in the state, which stalled since 2024, would resume and get completed.

The division bench also questioned the Chief Secretary on when last he interacted with the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice and the state administration in the matter.

The division bench observed that a year had passed with the work yet to be completed.

The bench directed the Chief Secretary to explain the reason for the delay for completion of the pending work in the matter for so long by Friday.

The division bench also directed the state administration to submit a detailed report to the court in the matter within the next seven days.

--IANS

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