About 54 Toyota Altis cars have been lying unused or unreturned at the Madras High Court campus for the last few months, as the judges who were given these cars by the government are neither using nor returning them, reports A Subramani for The Times of India. The cars are not being returned or used in spite of the honourable lordships being given new SUVs.
The report states that at least 30 of these cars are rusting away in the High court campus and about two dozen of them are at judges’ bungalows.
Image Courtesy: A Subramani/ The Times of India
Sources told TOI that the judges were also given new SUVs, Toyota Crysta, a few months ago as a replacement for their old cars, Toyota Altis. The judges were supposed to send the old cars to the home department for reallocation for some other government duty. Instead, they are letting these vehicles lie unused on the High Court campus. This is ‘criminal negligence involving public money’, a top source is reported to have said to the reporter.
It is understood there are judges within the brotherhood who are unhappy with what is being seen as reckless disregard for government property.
Image Courtesy: A Subramani/ The Times of India
Some judges are also reportedly using the old cars as their secondary vehicles, stating that the SUVs give poor mileage. In one of the recent meetings, a senior judge raised this issue and suggested that the cars should be returned to the government but no one paid heed to it.
A new Toyota Altis costs about Rs. 16 to 18 lakhs. TOI reported that some of these cars already have flat tyres and broken headlamps. Every vehicle has the round, red-gold, metal insignia with `Judge, Madras High Court' written on it, fixed to both the rear and front bumpers.
Image Courtesy: A Subramani/ The Times of India
However, despite knowing that these vehicles are going unused, the government is in a fix whether to ask the judges to return these cars or to take them away forcibly.
Apparently, both the state government and the public department have trained people to keep a count of the vehicles and to maintain the vehicles but the Madras High Court does not have anyone to take care of these vehicles.