“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth.”
– William Faulkner
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 must also introspect seriously that why 30 districts of West UP with more than 10 crores people not just 1.64 lakh people like in Kolhapur in Maharashtra 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 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!
Hon’ble CJI Mr Gavai very sagaciously pointed out precisely 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 applies to West UP 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!
What has left me completely shocked, stunned, 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!
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 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 most promptly many decades ago in 1980s itself and now one more at Kolhapur and so also a High Court Bench at Japlaiguri 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 which were all created! 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!
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 addressed at the earliest now! 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!
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 but for Punjab ad 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 78 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 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 78 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!
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 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? 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 it 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 forwarded by Centre for denying West UP even a single High Court Bench even though majority of pending cases are from West UP!
Sanjeev Sirohi