The proposed Munsiff Magistrate Court at Attappady will begin functioning from December 2. The High Court has asked Palakkad District Judge Ananthakrishna Navada to oversee the launch of the court, including the shifting of cases to the new court, being set up at a building vacated by the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) at Agali, Attappady.
Although indexing of files has begun at Mannarkkad Munsiff Magistrate court, the appointment of a magistrate, prosecutor and staff from criminal and civil sides will be made soon. The inaugural formalities will be decided later. Officials said either the Chief Minister or the High Court Chief Justice would inaugurate the court.
The Attappady court is becoming a reality after many years of apathy and politicking, though it was a crying need for the hilly and remote Attappady region. With two police stations catering to 192 tribal settlements spread over a vast forested hilly area bordering Tamil Nadu, Attappady cases were being handled by the Munsiff Magistrate Court at Mannarkkad. For a litigant from a place like Varadimala near Sholayur, it takes 89 kilometres of rough ride to reach Mannarkkad.
