The court of the district and sessions judge opened in Alipurduar on Saturday, nine years after it became a separate district.

The new court will be a relief for thousands in Alipurduar district. So far, they had to visit the district court in Jalpaiguri, 110km away from Alipurduar town, for legal proceedings including juvenile justice, anticipatory bail, cases involving electricity and the Narcotics, Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act.

“For a resident of Kumargram, the farthest block in Alipurduar, it is a 170km journey to Jalpaiguri, requiring considerable time and money on every visit. This court is a major development for the district. We thank the chief minister and the law minister,” said Suhrid Majumder, public prosecutor of the district and sessions court.

On Saturday, Acting Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam of Calcutta High Court virtually inaugurated the new court from Calcutta and the new judicial quarters on the existing court premises. He also laid the foundation stone of the new integrated court building which will come up here in around two years, a G-plus-six building for which a sum of Rs 65 crore has been allotted.

“Till the new building is ready, the district and sessions court will run from the temporary establishment where it opened on Saturday,” said a source.

Justice Ravi Krishan Kapoor of Calcutta High Court, who is also the zonal judge, Jalpaiguri, and state labour minister Moloy Ghatak were present at the event in Alipurduar.

As of now, Subhradip Mitra, the district and sessions judge of Jalpaiguri, has got the additional charge of this new court. He will attend court on Mondays and Tuesdays.

“On Saturday (inaugural day), the court heard two cases and granted bail in both,” the source added.