Decision on new KAT bench soon

Law and Parliamentary Affair Minister T B Jayachandra said on Saturday that the State government would soon take a decision on establishing a bench of the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal in the north Karnataka region and was awaiting the nod from the finance department in this connection.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of the new court complex here, Jayachandra said that the sole bench of the KAT was functioning in Bangalore, due to which there was delay in disposing of the huge number of case pending before it.

He said that there were over 25,000 cases pending for disposal. Going by the huge number of cases, there was a dire need for establishing at least two additional KAT benches to clear these cases, the minister said.

There was immense demand for establishing the bench in districts like Dharwad, Belgaum and Gulbarga. The government was studying the number of cases filed and the expected number of cases in the respective districts and would soon decide on the appropriate location for establishing the bench, he said.

The minister, however, refused to give information on the number of KAT benches the government intends to establish. “We will pursue the matter with the finance department and soon take a decision in this regard,” Jayachandra said.