The opening of the newly established Munsiff Magistrate Court at Attappady is likely to be delayed because of the inconvenience of the High Court judge in charge of Palakkad district.
The High Court had, in its memo dated November 7, asked Palakkad District Judge Ananthakrishna Navada to start the functioning of the Attappady court on December 2.
However, it is learned that Dinesh Kumar Singh, the High Court judge in charge of Palakkad district, will not be available on December 2, and therefore the court’s inauguration is likely to be postponed.
It is learned that none in the legal fraternity is supporting the establishment of the Attappady court in spite of it being the number-one priority among the 53 new courts being set up across the State. It is alleged that many a hurdle was posed by vested interests with the objective of scuttling the court proposal since it was mooted two decades ago.
The reasons
For judicial officers and administrative staff members, shifting to a remote place like Attappady is the last of their options. Many resisted by putting forth lame excuses. For lawyers, working in Attappady or travelling between Attappady and Mannarkkad or Palakkad is never a lucrative choice. And for those who fear the hand of the law in Attappady, having no court in Attappady is the best option.
Ever since a court for Attappady was mooted in the early 2000, the proposal met with stiff resistance from various quarters. Although one of the two Munsiff Magistrate courts at Mannarkkad was shifted to Attappady way back in 2004 by the High Court, it failed to materialise because of political pressures.
For two decades
Though the High Court gave the number-one priority to the Attappady court, lack of interest delayed the setting up of the court for about two decades. Some of the reasons that delayed the setting up of the court were flimsy. For example, a fake letter in the name of a bogus organisation titled Attappady Moopan Sabha had delayed the proposal for about two years. The bogus letter had demanded that the court be set up at Pudur, instead of Agali, as Pudur would be the central point of Attappady. Similarly, lack of a ramp was another reason that delayed the project for months.
Apathy and selfish motives of those in authority delayed the court for many years, though it was a crying need for the remote hilly region. The police stations of Agali, Sholayur and Pudur have been catering to 192 tribal settlements of Attappady. Their cases were being managed by the Munsiff Magistrate Court at Mannarkkad. For a person from a place like Varadimala, near Sholayur, it takes 89 km of rough ride to reach Mannarkkad. With the opening of the new court, litigants from Attappady may not have to spend a day or more to reach the court. Moreover, there will be an enhanced legal watch over Attappady.
