Coimbatore: PMK advocate K Balu on Friday urged the state govt to set up a circuit bench of Madras high court in Coimbatore, citing hardship faced by the people of western districts who are forced to travel to Chennai for legal proceedings.Speaking to reporters at the district combined court complex here, Balu welcomed the recommendation of Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari as the next Chief Justice of Madras high court. He said 25 judge posts were vacant in the high court and that 24 recommended names were awaiting govt approval. He said the Madurai bench was facing a severe shortage of judges, resulting in a large backlog of cases. “Filling vacancies is necessary to reduce pendency across the state.” Balu said the residents of Coimbatore, Tirupur, Karur and the Nilgiris were facing logistical and financial difficulties in travelling to Chennai. Pointing out that Maharashtra has four HC benches, Andhra Pradesh three, and Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal two each, he said the bar council would petition authorities, including HC judges and the President of India, to support a Coimbatore bench. On the transition to new national criminal laws such as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Balu said lawyers and judges were in a difficult adjustment period and needed strong understanding of both the new statutes and the earlier laws to ensure fair arguments and judgments. As a candidate in the TN and Puducherry bar council elections, Balu said his key promises included immediate implementation of a law to protect lawyers from physical attacks and malicious inclusion in police cases, and increasing the welfare fund for young advocates to 25 lakh.
