Lawyers based in Alipurduar will launch a pen down from Monday to demand the immediate setting up of the court of the district and sessions judge here.

“We don't know why there has been an inordinate delay in setting up the court of the district and sessions judge in Alipurduar. In its absence, lawyers and people in general have to visit Jalpaiguri, which is located 100km away. That is why we will launch the pen down from tomorrow (Monday),” said Surhid Majumder, the secretary of the Alipurduar Bar Association.

Alipurduar, which was a subdivision of Jalpaiguri district, was turned into a full-fledged district by the Mamata Banerjee government in 2014.

Eight years on, there is no court of the district and sessions judge in Alipurduar, the lawyers pointed out. The result is loss of money and time for everyone, they said.

“Even for an anticipatory bail, one has to go to Jalpaiguri. Also, cases pertaining to juveniles are sent to Jalpaiguri for hearing. It is a huge inconvenience for people as they need to spend more time and money,” said a lawyer.

He pointed out that even though Kalimpong was made a district in 2017, after Alipurduar, it has a court of the district andsessions judge.

The lawyers said a judicial team from Calcutta had earlier visited Alipurduar to inspect a site for the proposed court.

“We had learnt that funds have been sanctioned and were hopeful that construction of the court building would start soon. We had appealed to the visiting judges that the court be opened from a temporary building. But there was no development so far,” Majumder said.

“That is why, we are left with no other option but to launch the strike,” said Majumder, the bar association secretary.

The lawyers hinted that if their demand is not met, they might go for a hunger strike and call for a general strike across the district in the coming days.