High Court orders ignored

THE report carried in this newspaper yesterday regarding a large number of High Court orders remaining unimplemented for decades is another testimony to our scant regard for the rule of law. Given that most of these have to do with public interest, and that these need the active involvement of the various agencies to be fully implemented, the orders remaining ignored, suggest the brazen apathy of the governments to the interest of the public.
It is convenient to explain off the lack of progress in executing the court orders to lack of resources including manpower. But there are some issues that do not require additional manpower to ensure implementation of the order, for example illegal use of footpaths or demolition of illegal hoardings.
We are compelled to believe that not only lack of oversight but also acquiescence of the authorities is mostly the reason why the High Court Orders remain ignored. A case in point is the way the Shitalakkhya near Kanchpur Bridge has been encroached upon. This is not only failure to implement the HC order but also a deliberate and gross violation of it. Otherwise how does one explain a walkway newly constructed by the IWTA, as evident from the picture carried with the said report, which is well beyond the pillar demarcating the area of the river?
We would hope that the High Court would move to ensure that its orders are fully implemented, direct the authorities concerned to remove obstacles to that end, and take to task any or all that fail to comply.