Vibhu Bakhru reiterates his commitment to resolving issues raised by public, advocates

Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka Vibhu Bakhru has reiterated his commitment to resolving concerns raised by the litigant public and advocates.

He was interacting with members of the High Court Bar Association in Dharwad during his maiden visit there, after he was given a warm welcome by members of the legal fraternity, including senior advocates and jurists from the region, on Monday.

During his visit, Mr. Bakhru reviewed various administrative issues and promised to resolve the concerns raised.

A delegation led by association president V.M. Sheelvanth and vice-president Santosh Malagoudar submitted a memorandum to the Chief Justice on the occasion.

Mr. Malagoudar emphasised the need for increasing the number of judges at the Dharwad Bench to facilitate faster disposal of pending cases.

As the Dharwad bench catered to the districts of Bagalkot, Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Uttara Kannada and Koppal, there is a need for commensurate increase in the number of judges to address the issue of backlog, he said.

Through the memorandum, the association urged the Chief Justice to expedite the process of establishing an Advocates Bhavan at the Dharwad Bench by intervening in the issue.

This apart, the association requested for the establishment of a Special Court of Sessions for cases against former and present MPs and MLAs in Dharwad and also demanded transfer of such cases from the Principal Bench to Dharwad Bench.

The association urged the Chief Justice to set up a Green Bench in Dharwad dedicated to hearing cases related to environmental and ecological issues such as mining leases, land use and pollution control which are being heard by the Principal Bench now.

On Monday, 30 cases were listed before the Bench headed by Chief Justice Bakhru and he heard all of them, Mr. Malagoudar told presspersons.