Kochi: : The Kerala High Court on Wednesday issued notices to Law Minister M Vijay Kumar and CPI(M) MP Varkala Radhakrishnan on a writ petition, which sought to declare that the plea for setting up a High Court Bench in the state capital was ‘illegal’.

According to petitioner Kalarcode Venugopalan Nair, the minister had violated his oath of office by favouring the setting up of the Bench, while Radhakrishnan was an office-bearer of the Samara Samithi, a forum demanding the Bench. Issuing notices, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dathu and Justice A K Basheer, however, did not admit the petition.

The petitioner had also sought a declaration to the effect that assaulting of lawyers at court premises, march taken by the agitators to the High Court, obstruction to court proceedings, boycotting of courts and conducting dharnas were all ‘wrong’ and ‘illegal’. He alleged that the minister, by favouring setting up of the Bench, had adopted a ‘partisan stand’ favouring a set of people.