40 months on, Malerkotla gets Sessions Division

Forty months after being carved out as a district, Malerkotla got a Sessions Division today.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Parminder Singh Grewal took the charge in the presence of Sangrur Sessions Judge Munish Singal.

The residents and office-bearers of the District Bar Association had been struggling for establishment of the Sessions Division since the establishment of the district.

Having failed to get the directions of the Punjab and Haryana Court implemented, members of the Bar Association had organised several dharnas and had sought intervention of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for getting the high court’s directions implemented by the Chief Secretary.

On August 22, 2023, the Registrar General, Punjab and Haryana Court, had written a communiqué to the Chief Secretary regarding establishment of the Sessions Division.

“Honourable Chief Justice and Judges have been pleased to accord the consent of this court for creation of Sessions Division at Malerkotla subject to the condition that necessary infrastructure for establishing Appellate/Session Court is made available by the Punjab Government. Till the same is made available, the Appellate/ Sessions Court shall function from Sangrur. The requisite notification under Section 7(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 and section 20 of the Punjab Courts Act — 1918, may be issued in this behalf at an early date,” read the communiqué.

Mandeep Chahal, president, Malerkotla Bar Association, had filed a PIL in the high court a few months ago.

It was after receiving orders from Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal that the Punjab Government announced the establishment of a Sessions Division at Malerkotla on August 29, 2024.