Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur
Puttur, Jan 18: The new district court complex constructed at Anemajal, about six kilometres from the city on the Uppinangady road, is ready for inauguration by the end of January. Built at a cost of Rs 51 crore, the four-storeyed complex is expected to bring long-term relief from functioning out of ageing and inadequate court buildings.
Records indicate that courts in Puttur have a history spanning more than 150 years. The inauguration of the new complex coincides with an important milestone in the evolution of the judicial system in the town, which has progressed through several phases before reaching its present scale.
The earliest reference to a court in Puttur dates back to an 1860 registered document, in which one of the property boundaries is described as a road leading to the munsiff court. This road is believed to be the one connecting the old post office area to the forest department office, suggesting that the munsiff court and its office functioned in the area now occupied by the forest office at Nellikatte. This confirms that the Puttur court has a history of over 150 years.
In 1880, a court building with a tower was constructed at the present court premises, where the Puttur district munsiff court functioned. The 111-year-old structure collapsed on August 26, 1989. Court proceedings continued for two more years in the remaining portion of the building.
From 1991, until the present building was constructed, court proceedings were conducted from a rented building near the Sri Mahalingeshwara temple. The existing court building was inaugurated in 1996 and currently houses six courts.
The construction of the new court complex was taken up in two phases. The first phase, costing Rs 25 crore, was inaugurated on November 10, 2018, though the work commenced on May 11, 2019, after delays in the tender process. This phase was completed in 2021 and included the first two floors of the court building.
Alongside this, a four-storeyed advocates’ association building was constructed at a cost of Rs 3 crore with the participation of the district judiciary and the advocates’ association.
In December 2021, Supreme Court judge Justice Abdul Nazeer inaugurated the first phase and the advocates’ building, and laid the foundation stone for the second phase. The second phase, costing Rs 26 crore, involved construction of the remaining two floors of the court complex, judges’ residential quarters and a well-laid approach road. This phase has now been completed.
The district munsiff court, once identified by the initials ‘DMC’ on its furniture, now functions as the principal civil judge and first class judicial magistrate court. With the increase in the number of cases over the years, the number of courts has also risen, and six courts are currently functioning in Puttur.
The new court complex, built at a total cost of around Rs 51 crore, is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 31, according to Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai.