Madras High Court Judges To Get Honda Civic For Official Use

Madras high court judges to get Honda civic for official use 8 Jan 2009, 0247 hrs IST, TNN CHENNAI: The government has allocated Rs 4.26 crore for purchasing 36 Honda Civic sedans for the official use of Madras high court judges. A government order, making the budgetary outlay, was passed by the Home (Courts) Department on December 26. In the next few days, a total of 36 Honda Civic sedans will be made available to the official use of the Lordships. A government order, making a budgetary outlay of Rs 4.26 crore, was passed by the Home (Courts) Department on December 26, and the copies were sent to the high court a couple of days ago. Pointing out that the proposal to buy Honda Civic cars came from the high court represented by its Registrar-General, the government order said a sum of Rs 4,25,88,000 had been allotted to purchase 36 cars. Each car shall cost Rs 11.83 lakh, it said. Though Honda Civic cars in the open market enjoy only two-year free maintenance, the company dealer, TVS, has thrown in two more years of extended warranty for this batch of vehicles. "It is almost maintenance-free arrangement, as the norms for government vehicles fixed in 2003 holds that a vehicle would be eligible for replacement if it either completes five years or logs one lakh kilometre, whichever is earlier," said an official. The new batch of 36 vehicles will replace as many Honda City cars, which are long past their prime. Now, the old vehicles will be used by the Public (motor vehicles) Department for internal allotment. "The old vehicles are in poor shape, and we send up a prayer each time we get inside these cars," said a judge, adding that heated exchange of ideas preceded decision on the new Honda Civic sedans. While some judges pitched in for Toyota Innova, a couple of Lordships wanted Tata Safari or Scorpio for all judges. "Honda Civic found favour with a majority of judges for its elegance and poise," said another judge. After a brief debate, the judges settled for a modest white instead of royal black suggested by some judges. The high court's sitting strength of judges as on date is 43. So, who will not get the new car? "The junior-most seven, of course," said a judge, adding that orders for more cars would be placed once the 14 new additional judges, whose appointment is expected in the next few weeks, assume charge. It was the then chief justice B Subhashan Reddy who ushered in an era of comfort and opulence in 2002, when he got a batch of 31 Honda City cars for judges. The state government had allotted Rs 1.78 crore for the vehicles. Though the then open market rate for the vehicle was Rs 7.5 lakh each, the court got it for Rs 5.75 lakh each, thanks to discounts by the company and tax waiver by the then government.

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