New Delhi, Thursday 18 December 2008: Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today in the wake of struggles of setting up High Court Bench in Thiruvananthapuram. Prime Minister invited VS Achuthanandan and Oommen Chandy to his office for discussing about the issue.

The meeting with Singh is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Successive state governments have been demanding a bench of the high court to be set up in the capital.

The Kerala legislature has unanimously passed two resolutions in this regard.

There was a high court in Thiruvananthapuram in 1947. It became a high court bench following the establishment of Kerala high court in Kochi after the formation of the state in 1956. But in 1957 it was wound up.

Achuthanandan and Chandy have on more than one occasion met Singh with this demand.
To set up the bench, the central cabinet has to clear the proposal and send it to the president for approval. Prior to that, the Kerala governor and the chief justice of the Kerala High Court have to send their approval.

While the Kerala governor has sent his nod, a group of advocates after applying through the Right to Information Act have found out that the Kerala High Court has sent a negative reply for a bench.