Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court is set to receive 32 brand-new Innova Hycross cars for the Chief Justice and other judges, replacing the current fleet of Innova Crysta cars.

The existing vehicles, 31 of which were purchased in 2018 and one in 2019, will be phased out. The state government has sanctioned ₹9 crore for the procurement of the new vehicles.

The High Court Registrar had requested the replacement of vehicles that were either over five years old or had logged more than 80,000 kilometres. Initially, due to financial constraints, the finance department had opposed the request. It was noted that several ministers currently use cars that have run over 3.75 lakh kilometres.

However, the government reconsidered the matter after the High Court Registrar cited a ruling from the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of ML Puri vs The Punjab and Haryana High Court. That judgment had recommended replacing cars used by judges if they were more than five years old or had exceeded 80,000 kilometres. Based on this precedent, the cabinet reviewed and approved the High Court's request, allocating the required funds.