Judges raising funds

06/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,KOCHI

Judges of the Kerala High Court are loosening their purse strings to raise money for the distress relief funds of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister to meet the COVID-19 challenges.

Each judge of the Kerala court would voluntarily contribute at least ₹1 lakh each to the kitty and the amount would be divided into the two accounts. There are 36 judges in the High Court.

S. Manikumar, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, has launched the initiative by paying ₹1 lakh to the account of a cooperative society at the court. May 8 is fixed as the deadline, judicial sources said.

Meanwhile, nearly 600 judicial officers of the lower judiciary also started resource mobilisation through the Kerala Judicial Officers Association. The association has so far collected around ₹10 lakh and contributions are still coming in, sources said. Staff members of the Kerala courts would also chip in.

The cooperative society of the judicial officers have contributed another ₹5 lakh for the relief works, judicial officers said.