For petitioners from N-K region, justice is far away

HUBLI: The absence of quasi-judicial courts is pushing up costs for petitioners and litigants from North Karnataka, who are forced to travel to Bangalore for hearings, and spend considerable time too.
With the government expected to give the nod for a bench of the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) in Dharwad, advocates, activists and the public are planning to demand benches of the Lokayukta, the Consumer Redressal Forum and the Information Commission for North Karnataka.At present, commoners and social activists file cases in Bangalore. Justice, they say, is a costly affair for them.
In fact, KAT has itself put government employees of the region to severe hardship as they find it difficult to travel to Bangalore to attend cases related to promotions, suspensions, dismissals, transfers and charges of irregularities. Of more than 22,000 cases pending before KAT, around 11,000 cases are from the northern districts. Though the KAT registrar had in August 2012 written to the principal secretary, stating the KAT chairman and members have no objection to setting up a bench in Dharwad, the government is still mulling over the issue.
Consumer and RTI activists also face difficulty attending cases in Bangalore. "Apart from the travel, we have to bear lodging, food and other expenses. Appointing appropriate advocates is another costly task," said Rajashekhar JM, consumer activist.
Vice-president of Karnataka RTI Federation Aravind Meti stressed the need for a bench of the information commissioner in Hubli-Dharwad. "The Information Commission is conducting a video conference which has been a failure as government officials escape sending clerks for the hearing. If we get a permanent bench here, unnecessary delay can be avoided," he said. He also noted that the state information commission gets 60% appeals from NK-based RTI activists.
Satya Shodhana Samiti, a Hubli-based NGO, urged the Lokayukta to open a permanent office headed by the Upa Lokayukta in Dharwad, two years ago.
Advocate Basavaprabhu Hosakeri recalled the Dharwad Bar Association had requested the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission to establish its bench in Dharwad in 2005-06. "As the number of appeals was low, the demand was kept aside. Now, the region contributes 50% of the appeals pending before the Commission, which has about 9,000 pending cases," he remarked.
BD Hiremath, president of Dharwad High Court Bar Association, said he is fighting for a KAT bench. "Once we get it, we'll demand other quasi-judiciary court benches, if the public and other organizations join hands with us," he said.