Thaindian News

Shimla, July 1 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh High Court Friday announced setting up of ‘holiday courts’ by this year-end to help litigants employed either in government or semi-government offices to attend to their legal matters on their off days.

“To facilitate litigants who are in government or semi-government service and are unable to pursue their cases during working days, special ‘holiday courts’ will be set up in Shimla, Baddi, Paonta Sahib and Amb towns by the end of this year,” an official statement quoting Chief Justice Kurian Joseph said.

These courts will work on weekly off days (Sundays and second Saturday every month) and on gazetted holidays — both state and central, high court registrar general D.C. Chaudhary told IANS.

To dispose of cases pertaining to petty offences and those under the Motor Vehicles Act, the high court directed the subordinate courts to establish ‘mobile traffic magistrate courts’ in Shimla, Mandi and Dharamsala towns.

Chief Justice Joseph took the decision to set up ‘holiday and mobile traffic magistrate courts’ as part of the high court’s Mission Mode Programme that was launched Friday.

As part of the programme, no pre-2005 case will remain pending in the high court by the end of this year.

Every subordinate court has been given a target of 100 cases for disposal in each Lok Adalat being held quarterly. This way, a target for disposal of more than 20,000 cases has been set in the Lok Adalats by compromise and amicable settlements.

Chaudhary said cases pertaining to undertrials, senior citizens, minors, disabled, and those registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act would be settled on priority basis both in the high court and the lower courts.

He said a special bench to deal only with the cases of pensioners was made operational in the high court Friday.