The most momentous and most historic day of Indian history is November 14, 1889 when Lord Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was born blessing India by being born here! The first question that strikes my mind most hard ever since I gained senses is that why Lord Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is not the official “father of the nation”? Who accepted partition as “harsh truth”? The answer is not Mahatma Gandhi but Lord Pandit Nehru! Who has ruled India for longest 17 years? Lord Pandit Nehru! Who has created IITs and big dams like Bhakranangal etc etc? Lord Pandit Nehru! Who never suffered any electoral defeat in his lifetime and continuously became PM of India? Lord Pandit Nehru! Who would have been elected PM of India for 100 years if he had stayed alive? Lord Pandit Nehru!
Whether we like it or not but it is an unpalatable truth that even BJP which is the party which is ruling India since last more than eight years and which stands totally pitched against Congress legally worships Lord Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who had been most rigorously trained in United Kingdom also called England and also called Great Britain by some very eminent jurists and barristers as most of the key decisions that he took still stand intact! As for instance, in this article, I will focus mainly on the creation of a High Court Bench in the most populated state of India that is Uttar Pradesh. Lord Pandit Nehru wanted that High Court Bench be created only at the “City of Nawabs” which is famous by the name of Lucknow! He took no time and less than a year after independence, he easily created a High Court Bench on July 1, 1948 just 200 km away from Allahabad where High Court itself is located at Lucknow!
That’s all! After that no High Court Bench created at any nook and corner of UP by any Prime Minister! This despite the irrefutable fact that the people of hilly regions of undivided Uttar Pradesh now called Uttarakhand had to most stupidly, shamelessly and senselessly thousands of kilometers all the way not even till Lucknow which is 200 km earlier but right up till Allahabad to get justice! Not a single CJI dared to speak up! Why? Again Lord Pandit Nehru!
Why the designated CJI Justice Dr Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud cannot even in his “wildest of dreams” dare to dream let alone create a High Court Bench not just in West UP but in any nook and corner of UP even after being on post of Chief Justice of India for two years till November 10, 2024? Again Lord Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as he is revered by one and all! Why the designated CJI Justice Dr Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud inspite of being the Chief Justice of Uttar Pradesh from October 31, 2013 till May 12, 2016 could not create a High Court Bench in West UP or any other needy region of UP knowing fully well that West UP deserved the same? Again Lord Pandit Nehru who cannot take a wrong decision ever! Why the lawyers of West UP have been relentlessly agitating for a High Court since ages when my father was a small baby and yet not a single created till now? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Why inspite of lawyers forming “Central Action Committee” many decades back which meets regularly of all districts of West UP to chalk out strategy on how to create High Court Bench has not succeeded inspite of repeated agitations, bandh calls of entire West UP, rail rook and what not? Again it is Lord Pandit Nehru!
Why can’t the glass ceiling on High Court Bench in West UP not be ever broken? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Why lawyers of all districts of West UP went on full one month hunger strike as in 1978 yet no High Court Bench created? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Why lawyers of West UP went on strike for 6 months from July to December 2001 and starved as their source of income was closed yet no High Court Bench created? Again Lord Pandit Nehru!
Why the lawyers of West UP went on strike for a month and in between many weeks in 2009 yet no Bench? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Why lawyers of West UP went on strike for 4 to 5 months in 2014-15 yet no Bench? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Why lawyers of West UP have gone on strike for umpteen number of times and still no Bench? Again, Lord Pandit Nehru!
Why lawyers of West UP even boycotted some times Lok Adalats and once in 2014-15 protested outside court premises whole night yet no Bench? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Why Centre behaving like servant (called in Hindi as “Das”) on creating more High Court Benches in UP? Again Lord Pandit Nehru!
Why lawyers of West UP even went on a grand scale historic Padyatra from Mussorrie to Delhi in 1989 accompanied by lawyers of hilly regions which now constitute a separate State termed Uttarakhand yet no Bench created? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Why lawyers of West UP since last 75 years have been submitting memorandum for High Court Bench yet no Bench? Again Lord Pandit Nehru!
Why when the most promising senior lawyer, former Union Law Minister of India and jurist named Kapil Sibal with more than 50 years distinguished experience in Supreme Court recommended High Court Bench to be created in Meerut in his official capacity as was disclosed by another former Union minister RPN Singh while in Congress but now in BJP still it was not created and instead two High Court Benches were created at Karnataka for just 4 and 8 districts respectively at Dharwad and Gulbarga? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! It must be asked: When Maharashtra can have 3 High Court Benches with 4th being approved at Kolhapur for just 6 districts by former CM Uddhav Thackeray then why can’t UP have even two Benches like Madhya Pradesh even though Maharashtra tops in justice index ranking as opposed to UP which fares poorly and has maximum pending cases ? Again Lord Pandit Nehru!
Why is it that the practicing lawyers of West UP of all the districts were on strike on August 4, 2022 demanding a High Court Bench in West UP among other things? Why is it that I who am nearing 50 years old and when even I was not born, the lawyers of West UP were most relentlessly striking and agitating for a High Court Bench for months and months together but Centre most stupidly, most shamelessly and most senselessly decides not to allow not just a High Court Bench in West UP alone but in any nook and corner of UP except the one that was created by Barrister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru termed by many as “World’s Greatest Jurist” created on July 1, 1948 just 200 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow called the “City of Nawabs” for just 12 districts so that the people there were not troubled to travel 200 km away to Allahabad to get justice! For Centre it just did not matter that the people of West UP of 30 districts are compelled to travel more than 700 km on average all the way to Allahabad most foolishly by not allowing any Bench anywhere in UP! Not just this the people of hilly regions of undivided UP were compelled most horrifyingly to travel all the way more than thousands of kilometers away to Allahabad to get justice and Supreme Court also kept watching everything like a hapless, hopeless and helpless spectator for more than 50 long years till Uttarakhand itself was created in 2000 when it got High Court itself at Nainital and it definitely cannot be ever lauded for this worst inaction! It also cannot be glossed over that the then UP CM Sampoornanand in 1955 had recommended a High Court Bench at Meerut but Pandit Nehruji overruled him. Since then all the PM firmly, fully and finally decided not to allow any more High Court Bench in any nook and corner of UP except at Lucknow as they all including the incumbent PM Narendra Damodardas Modi very strongly feel that Lord Pandit Nehruji is hundred percent right on what he did and even God cannot change this as God is not world’s greatest jurist as Lord Pandit Nehruji is according to many!
It must be stated rather disconcertingly that it is India’s utter misfortune that UP which has the maximum population more than 25 crore as Yogi Adityanath who is UP CM keeps proudly declaring time and again which is more than the population of many countries including Pakistan whose population is 22 crore, has maximum villages more than one lakh whereas in other states the number of villages don’t exceed 5000 or 6000 at the most, has maximum pending cases about 10 lakh cases as per official figures in High Court and Bench whereas other states like Karnataka which has 3 high court Benches, Maharashtra which has 3 high court Benches, Assam which has 4 high court benches, Madhya Pradesh which has two etc even though they have less than 1 lakh pending cases or just 1 lakh, UP has maximum districts 75 whereas other states have just about 25 or 30 on an average, UP has maximum MPs, maximum MLAs, maximum Mayors, maximum towns, maximum pending cases in lower courts about to touch one crore pending cases whereas other states have comparatively much lesser figures, UP has given maximum PM to India including the incumbent Narendra Modi who is MP from Varanasi, maximum poverty, maximum crime, maximum riots, maximum killings, maximum rape, assault and other crimes against women, etc and is one of the biggest states of India yet has just one high court bench created way back in 1948 on July 1 at Lucknow which is just about 200 km away from Allahabad where the high court itself is located! Seventy four years have lapsed but till now in November 2022 no bench has been created in any other part of UP even though the former UN Secretary General Ban ki moon had slammed UP as the “rape and crime capital of India”! All true Indians must hang their head in shame at this despicable act! Why? Again Lord Pandit Nehru!
It is most shocking that UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 25 crore as CM Yogi Adityanath always 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 10 lakh and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice Jaswant Commission about 57%, 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 when she was busy celebrating her historic win 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 undertrials, 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 what not yet Centre till now at end of 2022 from 1948 when a bench was created in Lucknow which is so close to Allahabad is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but for the entire UP! Why? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Area of West UP is 98,933 square km and accounts for 33.61 percent of total area of UP and has 26 districts yet no bench but Lucknow with just 62,363 square km and 12 districts has a bench! Allahabad High Court is biggest High Court in whole of Asia as was claimed by Yogi Adityanath and also is one of oldest High Court and UP Bar Council has maximum members yet has least Bench just one and so very near to Allahabad which is nothing but most senseless, shameless and stupid decision perpetuated since independence and not rectified till now! Why? Again Lord Pandit Nehru!
Why is it that the people of West UP of more than 30 districts foolishly were compelled and are still compelled most senselessly, most shamelessly and most stupidly to travel all the way to Allahabad which is far away even from Lucknow where High Court Bench is located and averages 600 to 700 km on an average but the people of Nawab City i.e. Lucknow cannot travel even 200 km away to Allahabad? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Most shamefully, why no one cares for poorest of poor, women and infirm and physically handicapped people who can’t travel so far easily and Centre is most happy by inaugurating an international airport at Kushinagar and now again at Jewar in West UP which is a very good thing but why so miserly on High Court Bench for West UP which will benefit all whether poor or rich or Hindu or Muslim or of any other religion? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Centre must act now and not just keep remembering the “greatest jurist and barrister on earth” who is none other than Lord Pandit Nehru as a pretext for not creating Bench anywhere in UP!
It cannot be lightly dismissed that none other than the former CJI Ranjan Gogoi while in office as CJI had categorically appreciated the dire need of a High Court Bench in West UP as the litigants have to travel not just till Lucknow but 200 km away more from Lucknow that is till Allahabad which consumes whole night and half a day when a woman lawyer named KL Chitra raised this burning issue in her PIL but Gogoi made it clear that it was for the Centre to take the final call on this! But Centre led by PM Narendradas Damodardas Modi is very firm that what Lord Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru did in 1948 to allot Bench only for “Nawab City” should be always maintained and in his 8 years he has proudly done that about which I myself feel most ashamed as the most historic recommendations of 230th report of Law Commission recommending creation of more Benches has been thrown in the dustbin! This despite the irrefutable fact that BJP tall leaders like Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister like Gen VK Singh among many others have always reiterated their full support for a Bench as the people of 30 districts are compelled to travel whole night and half day all the way to Allahabad most foolishly which is truly incomprehensible!
Even Supreme Court has no valid reason to justify this worst stupidity on earth! It is akin to what all the PM have done from 1955 till 2022 that only Hindus have been banned from polygamy and not Muslims as my best friend Sageer Khan used to always lament which he said cannot be justified under any circumstances about which I never cared as I personally don’t even want to marry and am unmarried even though I am nearing 50 years! Sageer used to ask his own Muslim brothers as I saw from 1993-95 that, “Are Hindus second graded citizens in India that they have been barred from marrying more than one since 1955 even though Dr BR Ambedkar favoured retention of polygamy among Hindus and if they want to marry more than one they have to first convert to Islam which is the worst crime even though earlier in British India, Mughal India and even earlier Hindus could marry as many as they liked? He said that, “Muslims enjoy maximum liberty in India all over the world as can be seen from this but discriminating between Hindus and Muslims is most unfair and cannot be justified under any circumstances. Hindus are most tolerant and they have so quietly accepted all this which Muslims will never accept so quietly and humbly.” The same holds true for High Court Benches also which concerns me most!
Why only Eastern UP has both High Court and a single Bench and West UP, Purvanchal and Bundelkhand have not even a single Bench anywhere which is most shocking! Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Why UP CM Yogi Adityanath most forcefully demanded High Court Bench at Gorakhpur in 1998-99 and in 2015 even introduced “Private Members Bill” right inside Parliament which had to fail and you will ask why? Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Supreme Court and so also the CJI have definitely not covered themselves with glory anyway in last 75 years by stupidly leaving everything on Centre alone who has done just nothing on it! Supreme Court is final but it cannot be always infallible! It has grievously erred by not doing anything on this since last nearly 75 years! Let’s fervently hope that better sense prevails on designate CJI Dr DY Chandrachud and Apex Court also on this burning issue also as this will benefit directly most the poorest of poor, women, aged and the needy people who cannot afford to travel by plane but Lord Pandit Nehru stands tallest!
There can be no gainsaying that if UP can’t be given more high court benches and West UP can’t have even one High Court Bench then all the Benches in India must be definitely disbanded right now itself because UP has maximum pending cases and if it can function without any Benches in needy regions like West UP who are suffering to the hilt where people of more than 30 districts have to travel more than 700 km on an average all the way to Allahabad then why Maharashtra which tops the state list in justice index has 3 High Court Benches and we see even 4th Bench at Kolhapur had been sanctioned by the CM earlier for just 6 districts but not a single more for UP! Most disgusting! Incidentally, the previous CJI UU Lalit was from Maharashtra and now the CJI designate Dr DY Chandrachud is also from Maharashtra!
Most strikingly and most touchingly, Centre is ready to do anything for UP just like Pandit Nehruji like creating more airports, sports universities, medical colleges, engineering colleges, AIIMS and what not except creating a High Court Bench in West UP or at Bundelkhand or at Purvanchal as Lord Pandit Nehru only wanted it to be at “Nawab City” called Lucknow and nowhere else! This alone explains why Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge – Justice Jaswant Singh appointed by Centre itself in mid 1970s made recommendations to create a High Court Bench at Aurangabad which was created in 1985 and so also recommendation to create a Bench in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and at Madurai in Tamil Nadu were implemented but its recommendations to create not just one or two but three High Court Benches at Agra, Dehradun and Nainital were thrown straightaway in dustbin! Again Lord Pandit Nehru! Such is the aura of Lord Pandit Nehru!
So who can deny that Centre most proudly legally worships Lord Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who is the “Greatest Barrister, Greatest Jurist, Greatest Prime Minister, Longest Prime Minister and what not” which alone explains why not a Single High Court Bench has been created in Hindu holy cities like Gorakhpur, Mathura, Meerut, Ujjain, Ayodhya, Varanasi etc which are all legally most worthless cities just not fit to be given a High Court Bench under any circumstances as Lord Pandit Nehru wanted! Why can’t polygamy be abolished for all? Again it is solely because Lord Pandit Nehru did not want it to be abolished for all! The list is just endless! We must respect Pandit Nehru but blind worship cannot be ever justified under any circumstances! But we must all admire that Centre from the innermost core of its heart really legally worships not Hindu holy Gods most as keep seeing but again Lord Pandit Jawaharlal Nehruji for which Centre really truly deserves all the praise on earth!
Sanjeev Sirohi