Judges seek 40 houses within 10 minutes from HC

Judges seek 40 houses within 10 minutes from HC
Vijay Times

The State Government is frantically searching for areas within a 10-minute reach from the Karnataka High Court to build 40 bungalows for the judges of the HC. In the process the government has located four prime areas in the heart of the City, three of them in close proximity of the Attara Kacheri.

They are the Bangalore Turf Club on Race Course road, Golf Club on Sankey Road, the Old Central Jail premises near Maharani’s College, and the Agro Industries Corporation premises at Hebbal.

But to get these places to build mansions for the custodians of law is not as easy as it looks, if not impossible.

The demand for bungalows for the judges was first raised by Chief Justice Cyraic Joseph while inaugurating the Golden Jubilee Gate at the High Court in the presence of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and PWD Minister H D Revanna recently.

He had stated that judges stay at far off places in the city and because of the heavy traffic there is difficulty for them to reach the courts in time.

“Hence it would be necessary that all judges of the High Court are given houses by the government and more importantly it should be a 10minute drive from the High Court,” he had said.

The Chief Justice in a recent letter to the government has reiterated the demand and urged it to expedite the matter. The pros and cons of probable sites.

AAg gr ro o I In nd du ussttr riie ess: : There is a litigation surrounding it. Since it is under liquidation, anyone taking up this land would have to pay Rs 150 crore, which the government thinks is not feasible. GGo ol lff CCo ou ur rsse e: : Parting with the land in the golf course could spin into a major controversy considering the influential people who are its members. Moreover, it would also raise several issues among the environmentalists since it constitutes a green space. OOl ld d CCe ennttr raal l J Jaai il l: : Although this place would have been ideal as it is bereft of any controversy , it appears that this proposal may not come through. There is a commitment already made to construct a Freedom Fighters park and also the thought of judges residing in a jail premises may not be appropriate. TTuur rf f CCl luub b: : This seems to be a possibility since there were moves to shift the Turf Club during the S M Krishna regime. Moreover, there is 60 acres of land and would be enough to house each bungalow one acre.

Judges of the High Court at present are given Rs 25,000 each as House rent allowance.

If the bungalows are set up then the judges would not be entitled for this amount. At present apart from the Chief Justice only three senior judges have been granted official bungalows.