“Justice denied
anywhere diminishes justice everywhere.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is most shattering to note that
Centre has most shamelessly ensured since last 79 years of independence that
West UP with more than 10 crore people which contributes more than half to the
State’s economy and so also owes for majority of the pending cases of Allahabad
High Court and yet most mercilessly been deprived from having even a single
High Court Bench leave alone having High Court as ideally it should be! It
will definitely not be an exaggeration by any reckoning if I say that Supreme
Court in last about 80 years has relentlessly and most grievously erred by not
allowing even a single High Court in any nook and corner of Uttar Pradesh other
than at Lucknow which is so close to Allahabad where High Court itself is
located and most atrociously attached litigants of 30 districts of West UP and
hilly areas of undivided UP with not even Lucknow which is more than 230 km
closer but right uptill Allahabad most astoundingly to seek justice which in
itself is the biggest betrayal of Constitution, deepest burial of justice and
worst mockery of poorest litigants of hilly areas of undivided UP who had to
travel thousands of kilometers all the way till not even Lucknow but right
uptill Allahabad which under no circumstances can ever be justified! Does this
not amount to a worst travesty of justice right under the nose of the Supreme
Court for such a long spell of time from which not just one party but crores of
people especially litigants from hilly areas of undivided UP and West UP
suffered the most?
It is none other than Supreme Court
which has behaved most worst in most despotic manner in this world by not ever
till date for 79 long years ever taking suo motu cognizance of not just ‘open
cheating’ but more appropriate would it be to say that “open dacoity” and “open
plunder” in the distribution of High Court Benches in different States and
different regions and so also in creation of new States where worst form of
discrimination is ruling the roost! It is absolutely heart wrenching to
see that for just 6 districts of Western Maharashtra with a population of just
1.64 lakh people, it has been announced on August 1, 2025 that the fifth High
Court Bench at Kolhapur will start functioning from 18-8-2025. In protest, the
lawyers of 22 districts of West UP have unitedly decided to boycott work on
4.8.2025 and stage demonstrations and submit memorandum reiterating the age old
demand for High Court Bench in West UP so that people get easy and affordable
justice just like Maharashtra – “justice at doorsteps”! Of course, this most third
rated discrimination in allotment of High Court and High Court Benches in
different States and different regions is completely unacceptable and CJI and
Supreme Court must take suo motu cognizance of it and not be a silent and
hapless spectator of what all is going on!
It has been reported just recently in
the most prestigious “India Today” website that, “Maharashtra will get its
fifth Bombay High Court Bench in Kolhapur from August 18, 2025 easing access to
justice for six Western districts. The decision follows decades of demand and
official notification by the state government. Bench will serve six districts
including Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. Circuit
bench aims to reduce travel burden on litigants from Western Maharashtra.
Kolhapur Bench joins existing Benches in Nagpur, Aurangabad, Panaji and
Mumbai.” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made the announcement and said that,
“I am extremely delighted to inform that the Bombay High Court has made
arrangements for the administration of justice (Circuit Bench) at Kolhapur. The
gazette regarding this has also been published, and it will come into effect
from August 18, 2025. This arrangement will be for the six districts of
Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.”
The incumbent CJI –
Hon’ble Mr Justice BR Gavai on June 26, 2025 while speaking at his felicitation
that was organized by the Advocates Association of the Aurangabad Bench of
Bombay High Court has said most strongly that he supported the demand to set up
a Bench of the Bombay High Court at Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra for 6
districts stating that justice should be available to every citizen “in every
corner”. He said that, “Every time there is a demand for Kolhapur Bench of the
Bombay High Court in Western Maharashtra, I have supported it and given the
example of the Aurangabad Bench. More cases are filed in the Aurangabad Bench
now than those in the Bombay Bench of the High Court.” To be sure, the
incumbent CJI – Hon’ble Mr Justice BR Gavai whose
home State is Maharashtra further hastened to add that, “It is not financially possible for everyone to come to Bombay (Mumbai)
for each and every hearing. Every citizen in every corner should get justice
without having to spend much time and money.” Absolutely right! No disputing
it!
Honestly speaking, from the same
angle, CJI Mr Justice BR Gavai must also introspect seriously that why 30
districts of West UP with more than 10 crores people not just 1.78 lakh people
like we see in Kolhapur in Maharashtra where fifth High Court Bench approved
and still have been most cruelly, consistently, cunningly and callously denied
for so long even a single High Court Bench for whom the architect of
Constitution – Dr BR Ambedkar had most vociferously recommended also separate
Statehood itself? This is because CJI is Chief Justice of India and not just
Chief Justice of Maharashtra only and so he must definitely ensure equality in
distribution of High Court Benches among all the States which most
unfortunately we don’t see happening right now! Most disgusting indeed! How
long will few elite States always be coddled, even at the cost of truth that it
is UP which tops the States list in having maximum number of pending cases and
still only one Bench in Eastern UP so close to Allahabad but West UP which owes
for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court has no High Court Bench,
not even a single High Court Circuit Bench! Yet Supreme Court has never
bothered to do anything on this!
It is published in a news column in
website of ‘The Times of India’ with heading titled “Submit proposal to convert
circuit bench in Kolhapur into permanent bench: CJI Bhushan Gavai to HC” dated
August 18, 2025 by Abhijeet Patil that, “Chief Justice of
India Bhushan Gavai on Sunday asked the Bombay high court to submit a proposal
as early as possible to convert the newly inaugurated high court circuit bench
in Kolhapur into a permanent bench. “I still have three-and-a-half months left
in the CJI office, and this is a fairly long period,” he said at the
inauguration of the high court circuit bench. Gavai, who was sworn in as the
CJI on May 14, is due for retirement on Nov 23.”
Hon’ble CJI Mr Gavai very sagaciously
pointed out precisely observing that, “To get justice to the man standing at
the last mile was important and thus, there has to be decentralization of the
judicial system.” This definitely hundred percent applies to West UP and
lawless Bihar also! How long will Centre keep fudging, keep fuming needlessly
and keep forwarding lame excuses and keep dilly-dallying on such a most
pressing issue for an inordinately long spell of time? What is also important
to note is that even as Parliament session is going on, Centre has not shown
any serious interest in demonstrating that it is most serious to address this
most compelling demand for High Court Bench in West UP!
It is most shocking that UP which is
among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 26 crore as CM
Yogi Adityanath and so also PM Narendra Modi always so very proudly claims,
maximum districts - 75, maximum constituencies - 80, maximum MPs – 80, maximum
MLAs - 404, maximum PM including Narendra Modi who represents Varanasi as an
MP, maximum pending cases – more than 11 lakh in Allahabad High Court and here
too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice
Jaswant Commission about 57% and now after so many decades the percentage of
pending cases in West UP has gone substantially much higher, maximum cases in
lower courts about to touch 1 crore, maximum Judges both in High Court – 160
and also in lower courts, maximum vacancies of Judges both in High Court and
also in lower courts, maximum members in UP Bar Council more than 1 lakh and
which is also the largest Bar Council in the world as claimed in the website
itself of UP Bar Council yet the former Chairman of UP Bar Council – Darvesh
Yadav who was the first woman to get appointed to this post was murdered cold
blooded right in court premises in Agra which is again in West UP on June 12,
2019 by pumping bullets on her head and stomach, maximum poverty, maximum
villages more than one lakh the exact number being 107040, maximum gram
panchayats at 74626, maximum fake encounters killings, maximum custody
killings, maximum dowry cases, maximum bride burning cases, maximum cases of
human rights violations, maximum robberies, maximum dacoities, maximum cases of
crime, loot, arson and riots and here too West UP tops with Saharanpur riots,
Meerut riots, Muzaffarnagar riots tarnishing our international reputation to
the extent that former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “crime and
rape capital” of India and just recently we see after Bahraich even Fatehpur in
West UP coming in news for shameless communal disturbances most recently,
maximum undertrials in all age groups and what not yet Centre till now in
August 2025 from July 1948 when a Bench was created in Lucknow which is so
close to Allahabad and where it was just not needed at all is not prepared to
create even a single bench for not just West UP but for the entire UP nor even
ready to attach 30 districts of West UP with more than 10 crore population
which is more than majority of States with Lucknow? How can Centre ever deny,
distort or dispute such most irrefutable facts? What exacerbates matters is
Centre stonewalling any attempt to create a Bench in West UP or any other part
of UP except Eastern UP!
Much water has flown down the bridge
since India became independent in 1947 but the most stark truth is that even nearly
80 years later in August 2025, we see that West UP is without a High Court
Bench which is definitely most deplorable, most dangerous, most self
destructive and most discriminatory that even Supreme Court has dared not to
ever intervene even when UP was undivided! Why Supreme Court has tolerated such
dastardly discrimination in distribution of High Court Benches in different
States and in different regions? If this is not the biggest tight slap on
Constitution and Dr BR Ambedkar, then what else is?
Why only a handful of elite States
like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka and Assam alone have
multiple High Court Benches even though 230th Report of Law
Commission of India headed by former Supreme Court Judge – Late Dr AR
Lakshmanan had strongly recommended multiple High Court Benches for States
especially big? Why Supreme Court never dares to lash out ever at this most
brazen, blind, brutal, blatant and baseless discrimination perpetrated in
distribution of High Court Benches in not only different States but also
different regions like in UP it is only Eastern UP alone which has both High
Court and High Court Bench leaving other regions completely unrepresented
including hilly areas as long as it formed part of UP, West UP, Purvanchal and
Bundelkhand? Why the hell Supreme Court has tolerated most
absurdly for so long and is still tolerating such most worst form of
dastardly, divisive and double standard absurd discrimination perpetrated
against different regions of same State like in UP or between different
States and so also in allocating Statehood to different States?
What has left me completely shocked,
absolutely stunned, totally shaken and shattered to the hilt just like other
lawyers of West UP and litigants is that even after nearly 80 years, Centre is
least bothered to do anything serious on such a most burning issue directly
affecting more than 10 crore people living in West UP especially litigants! It
is well settled and well known all over that this core, compelling and critical
issue of setting up a High Court Bench in West UP has been on the table since
independence yet most unfortunately keeps getting pushed back to the oblivion!
How long will Centre keep on neglecting intentionally such a most serious
issue? About 78 years have already flown under the bridge of time!
What I find most deeply unsettling
and most perplexing to note is that West UP has not even a High Court Bench nor
even just a High Court Circuit Bench and still Supreme Court says nothing! When
will it speak up? It must speak up now fearlessly in the interest of justice so
that the poorest litigants of West UP stands to gain the most and don’t keep on
suffering endlessly with no end in sight! No denying or disputing it!
To put it bluntly: The bogey that
West UP needs no Bench needs to be most strongly debunked! Rather I will ask:
What was the dire need for a High Court Bench in Lucknow so near to Allahabad
where High Court itself is located yet it has High Court Bench since July 1,
1948? The point to reflect on is: How long will West UP be mercilessly deprived
from having even a single Bench? The most critical question is: How much more
time will Centre senselessly keep purchasing to settle this long pending High
Court Bench issue in West UP knowing it fully well that West UP owes for
majority of pending cases of UP and contributes 80 percent to State's
economy yet litigants from this region are made to suffer the most as both High
Court and a single Bench are in Eastern UP only and nowhere else and most
intriguingly West UP attached with not even Lucknow but most farthest with
Allahabad which means litigants of 30 districts of West UP have to travel
600-800 km on average so far away and yet no one bothers not even CJI himself
as I have never heard him saying anything like he said for Kolhapur which is
just about 382 km from Mumbai where High Court is located?
Most ironically and most shamefully,
we see that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court
Judge was constituted by Centre itself for creating a High Court Bench in West
UP among other places and it recommended maximum three High Court Benches in
undivided UP – two circuit Benches in hilly areas at Dehradun and Nainital and
a permanent High Court Bench in West UP at Agra yet not one Bench created till
date which ultimately resulted in huge agitations in hilly areas of undivided
UP and UP got partitioned in 2000 mainly because of hilly areas being denied
even a single High Court Circuit Bench and then got separate High Court itself
for just 88 lakh people and separate State named Uttarakhand but for West UP
with more than 10 crores population for which permanent Bench recommended by
Justice Jaswant Singh Commission which owes for majority of pending cases of
UP, we see that not a single Bench created till date with August 2025 now running
even though a permanent High Court Bench was recommended for it about 50 years
ago most unfortunately and so also most astoundingly we also witnessed how
where it recommended High Court Bench in Aurangabad in Maharashtra started
functioning so early as in 1980s itself which already had multiple High Court
Benches at Nagpur, Bombay and Panaji and yet created one more fifth itself at
Kolhapur from 18.8.2025 and so also Justice Jaswant Singh Commission had
recommended High Court Bench at Japlaiguri for just 5 districts was created in
West Bengal which already had High Court Bench in Port Blair for just 2 lakh
people and so also at Madurai in Tamil Nadu with just 7 crore people which were
all created promptly! This is the real tragedy and real worst discrimination in
distribution of High Court Benches in different States! How can any CJI ever
decide to remain wholly silent on this shocking, shameless and senseless
discrimination? Denial of even a single Bench to West UP is wholly untenable
and needs to be given a Bench at the earliest without any more dilly-dallying
now!
Why is Centre so ambivalent and
inimical in taking any proactive step that goes a long way in resolving this
key issue at the earliest? One can’t fathom that why Centre has behaved so
partially, so irrationally and so undemocratically that the most populated
State of India with maximum number of pending cases was given only one Bench
and that too very close to Allahabad itself and worst of all attached litigants
of West UP and hilly areas of undivided UP with not even Lucknow which is more
than 230 km earlier but right uptill Allahabad as if India was still being
ruled by colonial Britishers with even Lahore in Pakistan closer to West UP as
compared to Allahabad High Court? This is exactly that has led to catastrophic
results and culminated in partition of UP into UP and Uttarakhand in 2000! Will
any democratic country behave in such autocratic manner?
Is this democratic or autocratic
style of functioning? Centre’s approach in this regard in last nearly 80 years
has been most diabolically outrageous and has to be most strongly condemned!
Why these elected representatives are behaving like monarchs depriving the
people from having easy and affordable justice at doorsteps is truly
incomprehensible?
Why this High Court Bench issue in
West UP has most mysteriously remained in limbo for so long? Why can’t Centre
bury the hatchet and move forward to balance the regional imbalance of Eastern
UP having both High Court at Allahabad and a single Bench at Lucknow so close
to each other and West UP inspite of owing for majority of pending cases of UP
for whom Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended permanent seat of High
Court Bench yet even after nearly 50 years not even a Bench created nor even a
Circuit Bench created! What I find most deeply unsettling is that even now we
see that neither the Supreme Court nor Centre is ready to open its eyes and
take most concrete action to dismember the most historical, Himalayan blunder
committed about 80 years ago! Denying West UP and Bihar even a single High
Court Bench is not just illogical but also deeply insensitive, deeply flawed
and most deeply discriminatory also that has gone unnoticed, unchecked and
unaddressed for so long!
I must add here that it is certainly
high time now and the worst discrimination that has been perpetrated in
judiciary itself since last 75 years of completion of Constitution must be
definitely addressed at the earliest! Frustration stems in minds of litigants
of West UP due to no Bench in this region inspite of such a huge population of
more than 10 crores more than majority of the States in India and majority of
the countries in the world! High Court Benches are tools to be used to
strengthen speedy justice and “justice at doorsteps” as recommended most
strongly and most sagaciously by the 230th Report of Law Commission of India
prepared under Chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge Late Dr AR Lakshmanan
and other legal experts for all States and High Court Benches are not some gold
ornaments to be just locked up in few elite States alone as per ruling elite
own whims and fancies as we see most unfortunately and most disgracefully since
last nearly eight decades!
There was no e-filing facility for
hilly areas of undivided UP from 1947 to November 9, 2000 till Uttarakhand was
created as a separate State as litigants relentlessly bore extreme hardships
and wasted huge money in just travelling alone leave alone other expenses but
more than 10 crores people of West UP are still suffering endlessly! Yet not
one Judge either in Allahabad High Court or even Supreme Court which is the
last bastion as ray of hope for the poorest litigants could ever dare to summon
the moral courage to speak up by taking suo motu cognizance of this long
lingering High Court Bench issue in West UP!
One is totally clueless as to why
Centre and concerned States are not taking any meaningful and decisive steps to
create more High Court Benches not even in big States like UP and Rajasthan as
both have only one Bench and lawless Bihar most shockingly has none even though
the 230th Report of Law Commission of India in 2009 headed by former Supreme
Court Judge and a very eminent jurist also even though the 230th Report of
Law Commission of India in 2009 headed by former Supreme Court Judge even
though the 230th Report of Law Commission of India in 2009 headed by former
Supreme Court Judge and a very eminent jurist also - Late Hon’ble Dr AR
Lakshmanan who most strongly advocated for creation of more High Court Benches
in different States without any discrimination and yet even after 16 years on
ground we see that only few elite States like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam alone have exclusive privilege of having
multiple High Court Benches? To cut a long story short, the question is whether
Centre will ever try to dismantle the totally unjustified monopoly of few elite
States in having multiple High Court Benches? To say the very least, at least
Supreme Court and CJI must step in because CJI is Chief Justice of India and
not Chief Justice of Maharashtra only!
No wonder, in the India Justice
Report 2025 that was released on April 14, 2025, we see that States like
Karnataka with population of just 6 crore which got VVIP treatment by being
given multiple High Court Benches at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8
districts only created in 2008 which already had High Court Bench in Hubli rank
among the best States right on top of all States and West UP with 30 districts
and more than 10 crore people yet not even a single Bench and UP with more than
26 crore population which is more than Pakistan at 25 crore has just one Bench
only and it is a no-brainer that it has been listed in worst category just like
lawless Bihar not having even one Bench and Rajasthan just one among others
also figuring in the worst category of States! Five south states rank
among top performers as for just 3.5 crore people of Telangana, separate High
Court created on June 2, 2014 and so also for Andhra Pradesh with just 4 crore
people and we know that apart from High Court at Amaravati, the Andhra Pradesh
Assembly just some recently approved a High Court Bench in Kurnool and State
Government it is being reported is now contemplating one more at Visakhapatnam
but for Punjab and Haryana still there is no separate High Court for both
the States and so no wonder it figures in middle performer category States!
Still why Parliament never ensures
that big States like UP, lawless Bihar and Rajasthan have multiple High Court
Benches even after more than 79 years of independence? Parliament cannot be
absolved ever from its most notorious stupidity in doing nothing to set the
record straight on this count and bringing them at least on parity with few
elite States who have multiple High Court Benches like Karnataka even though
its population at 6 crores is more than 4 crores less than West UP alone at 10
crores and more than 20 crores less than UP at 26 crores! No wonder, it is
right at the top in the India Justice Report 2025!
But it really speaks volumes of how
much ruthless, rampant, raw and rotten discrimination our Centre and so also
our Parliament that is both legislature and executive has ensured is
perpetrated on big North Indian States like UP, Rajasthan and Bihar in
judiciary itself in High Court Benches distribution which makes me hang my head
in shame! It would be foolhardy to ignore the ground reality which speaks for
itself. Yet Supreme Court also never takes suo motu cognizance of it and as we
saw in November 2018 when an Apex Court Bench led by the then CJI Mr Ranjan
Gogoi conceded the dire need of a High Court Bench in West UP while listening
to a PIL by a woman lawyer KM Chitra dismissed the PIL saying that it was for
Centre to decide! Is Supreme Court waiting for another 100 or 200 years for
Centre to take action on this?
Will creation of more High Court
Benches ensure or hinder the rule of law? No prizes for guessing the clear
writing on the wall! Why the most legitimate voice of the litigants of West UP
for a High Court Bench has been throttled for so long despite West UP owing for
majority of pending cases of UP and contributing to more than 80% of State’s
economy? The crux of the problem is: Centre is least interested in taking any
pains to seriously resolve this long pending issue which definitely has to be
roundly and most strongly condemned! A High Court Bench in West UP will better
ensure that police and civil administration in West UP comply as directed as it
will be much closer! It certainly brooks no more delay any longer now!
By any reckoning, there cannot be
ever a bigger tragedy than this that for 79 years of independence we see
that West UP has been denied even a single High Court Bench even though it
is West UP which owes for majority of the pending cases of UP which is highest
not just in UP but is also highest in any other region of India yet mercilessly
deprived from having even a single High Court Bench which is undoubtedly most
disastrous! What is even most worst and most disgusting is that the
litigants of 30 districts of West UP have been most atrociously and most
mercilessly attached with not even Lucknow where a High Court Bench exists
since July 1948 in Eastern UP but attached most stupidly with Allahabad which
is more than 230 km away from even Lucknow which means the poorest litigants of
30 districts of West UP have to spend more and travel whole night and nearly a
day about 700 to 800 km in average by train to attend court hearings which is
plainly unconstitutional just like litigants of hilly areas of undivided UP had
to travel thousands of kilometers all the way again till Allahabad in true
dictatorial style making the worst mockery of our Constitution and so also of
poorest litigants till Uttar Pradesh was partitioned and this was the major
reason which political parties never like to concede and judiciary also has
been reticent in taking any action in this regard even though it took suo motu
cognizance recently in cheating in Mayor elections as we saw in Chandigarh some
time back! CJI must speak on this also like he spoke for High Court Bench in
Western Maharashtra for just five districts and act also!
It merits just no reiteration that
the trials and tribulations that litigants of West UP have to face due to no
Bench in this region even though majority of pending cases are from West UP are
simply unending yet most atrociously we see that Centre has done absolutely
just nothing to resolve it and media too has utterly failed to highlight it
effectively! The step-motherly treatment that has been humiliatingly
accorded to West UP which owes for majority of pending cases of UP and
contributes more than 80 percent to State’s economy is most disgraceful and
most saddening indeed! No denying it!
What really intrigues me most is why
so unjustly West UP has been deprived from having even a single Bench? Centre
has repeatedly assured creation of Bench in West UP but in stark contrast when
it comes to action, nothing done in last nearly 80 years! Most disgraceful,
most disheartening, most derisive, most discriminatory double standards and so
also most disbelieving to see how unabashedly Centre has turned a blind eye to
such a most serious and compelling issue directly affecting the poorest
litigants!
How long will a solution to this
Bench issue in West UP just keep lurking in the shadows? To put it plainly,
Centre’s absolute inaction on this front has to be most strongly and roundly
condemned! On a serious note, the people’s cry for a High Court Bench in West
UP cannot be ever silenced!
With a very heavy heart, I want to
say that Centre has been most biased in denying West UP even a single Bench!
You don’t need a telescope to see that which State should have maximum High
Court Benches as it is the most populated State of India with maximum number of
pending cases! How long will Supreme Court be in hibernation mode on this count
with 79 years already flown under the bridge of time? It has to be acknowledged
with grace that denial of even a single High Court Bench to West UP which owes
for majority of pending cases of UP which is also highest for any region in
India is not only most dangerous and most deleterious but also most disastrous,
most despicable and most discriminatory indeed!
Let us still fervently hope that some
Judge in Supreme Court will definitely one day take suo motu cognizance of this
worst discrimination of distribution of High Court and High Court Benches in
different States and different regions right under the nose of Supreme Court
most shamelessly, most senselessly, most surreptitiously and most sinisterly by
not allowing even a single Bench in UP in last 78 years even though UP has
maximum pending cases among all the States and majority of pending cases from
West UP yet not even a single Bench even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission
appointed by Centre itself recommended permanent seat of High Court Bench in
West UP about 50 years ago and address it in the best possible convincing
manner! It brooks no more delay any longer now!
My point is very clear: This
definitely cannot under any circumstances continue endlessly! I am of the
considered view that Centre is taking far too long for deciding in an “open and
shut” case of High Court Bench in West UP! What I find really most troubling
and so also most demoralizing is that this key issue directly pertains to
judiciary and it is a grave violation of what is envisaged in Article 14 about
equality in Constitution yet Apex Court also has most astoundingly and
inexplicably desisted in last nearly 80 years of independence in taking a
proactive stand on it and in ensuring that West UP has a High Court Bench so
that the litigants don’t keep on suffering endlessly!
But I still nurture a glimmer of hope
that someday sooner or later Supreme Court will definitely muster the requisite
courage and conviction to honestly speak up most candidly on this also just
like it spoke recently on more than half of Judges seat in Allahabad High Court
lying vacant and ensure that a High Court Bench is created in West UP at the
earliest as was directed also so very commendably by Justice Jaswant Singh
Commission appointed by Centre itself about 50 years ago and yet not created
till date! I just don’t buy any rubbish arguments that is forwarded by Centre
as lame excuse on one pretext or other for denying West UP even a single High
Court Bench even though majority of pending cases are from West UP yet what is
worst is that even Supreme Court has done absolutely just nothing at all in
this regard for last about 80 years without any bona fide justification for not
taking any action in such a serious matter affecting so many litigants who are
made to undergo untold hardships due to no Bench in this region!
To put it gently, it would
not be completely off the mark to say that it is West UP where High Court
should now be shifted as majority of pending cases are from West UP as was
conceded by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission also! But what I find most deeply
unsettling and so also most perplexing to note is that West UP has not even a
High Court Bench nor even just a High Court Circuit Bench and still Supreme
Court says nothing! When will it speak up? It must speak up now fearlessly in
the interest of justice so that the poorest litigants of West UP stands to gain
the most and don’t just keep on suffering endlessly with no end in sight for no
fault of theirs!
To conclude, CJI is Chief Justice of
not just Maharashtra but of India as a whole. He must definitely ensure that a
High Court Bench is created in West UP also where it is needed most before he
hangs his boots and not just that only one State that is Maharashtra which
already had multiple High Court Benches is armed additionally with one more
Bench! There can be just no denying or disputing it!