Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 3: In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Bar Association Kishtwar through its President I A Hamal seeking handing over of entire Deputy Commissioner’s Office Complex, Kishtwar for use of District Courts Complex, Division Bench of the State High Court comprising Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice B S Walia today directed Commissioner/Secretary Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar to file the updated status report before the adjourned date of hearing.
When the PIL came up for hearing, Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed with Advocates Rahul Raina and Suraj Singh appearing for the petitioner Association drew the attention of Division Bench towards the status report filed by Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar pursuant to the directions issued on the last date of hearing when the Division Bench had ordered that in case the status report is not filed then the Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar will appear in person.
“The status report filed by the Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar leads us nowhere as he has not disclosed in the report as to how much time it will take for the completion of construction of Mini Secretariat Kishtwar which will ultimately pave way for the shifting of the District Court Complex to the existing D C Office Complex Kishtwar”, Advocate Ahmed said.
At this stage, AAG Ehsan Mirza appearing for Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar submitted that the directions for shifting of courts had been issued by the then Chief Minister orally and appropriate procedure has to be followed in this matter by the GAD and Law Department for issuance of appropriate orders regarding the shifting of the courts. He further submitted that Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar of his own cannot move to the new complex and moreover the complex is still under construction and may take some time to complete.
Deputy Advocate General P S Chandel appearing for Law Department submitted that he has the instructions on behalf of the Law Department to file a response indicating the steps taken towards the issue involved in the PIL and he sought a very short time to place the facts before the Division Bench.
After considering the submissions of both the sides, DB directed AAG Ehsan Mirza and Deputy AG PS Chandel to file the latest status before the adjourned date of hearing and looking into the urgency involved in the matter directed the Registry to list the PIL in the week commencing November 16.
Follow our WhatsApp channel