It is most heartening to note that one of the most prominent lawyers of not only Meerut but also of whole of Uttar Pradesh – Mr Rohitashwa Kumar Aggarwal who has just recently been elected for a record sixth time as President of Meerut Bar Association which has just no parallel and who is also a Member of UP Bar Council since last 25 years and who is also a former Chairman of UP Bar Council twice apart from holding many other prestigious appointments has been most vocal in asserting very categorically that the setting up of a High Court Bench in West UP will be his topmost priority and will pursue it relentlessly. He wonders aloud that when Justice Jaswant Singh Commission appointed by Centre itself under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge had recommended three High Court Benches for undivided UP then why not even one was created for undivided UP which included one for West UP and why Centre has slept over such landmark recommendations when for States like Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches was given one more? Even in his younger days, he has faced many injuries in his head and so also other body parts due to police lathicharge while leading the agitation for a High Court Bench in West UP not only as President but also earlier as General Secretary of Meerut Bar when UP was undivided and has spearheaded the agitation for it since last many decades and so also has taken part in so many padyatras! It is Meerut Bar Association which is spearheading the agitation by 22 districts under the banner of Central Action Committee for a High Court Bench in West UP since last many decades.
If Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr DY Chandrachud will not take suo motu cognizance of such a serious matter then who else will? What is the logic of denying West UP even a single High Court Bench when CJI Dr DY Chandrachud who is fully aware of the ground reality as he has himself been the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court for about three years as he himself concedes candidly and it was in his tenure that the lawyers of West UP had gone on strike for 6 months and many times for one or two months and every Saturday since last 43 years from May 1981 till February 2024 and so also strike of Wednesday which was discontinued so that the litigants don’t suffer endlessly? Most strikingly, when West UP owes for more than half of the total number of pending cases of UP then what on earth compels Centre to not approve even a single High Court Bench even after more than 75 years after a High Court Bench was created in Lucknow in 1948 which is so near to Allahabad where High Court itself is located in Eastern UP?
It’s been hard to fight this deep-seated thinking that any region other than Eastern UP can ever be considered fit to be eligible for securing a Bench! Naysayers have been proven to be right by Centre that no region other than Eastern UP can ever be considered fit to be given a Bench. It is due to this sheer stupidity of the highest order that the litigants of West UP have to travel whole night and half day by train to Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is the biggest injustice!
What however leaves me completely flabbergasted is that why most shockingly even Supreme Court and CJI never says a word on the most blind, brutal, blatant and baseless discrimination when it comes to setting up of High Court Benches in different States and different regions in India? How can anyone be ever oblivious of the irrefutable fact that Uttar Pradesh has maximum pending cases in India among all the States with maximum population and still has just one Bench only in Eastern UP at Lucknow created in 1948 even though it is West UP which owes for more than half of the total number of pending cases in India for which even Justice Jaswant Singh Commission also appointed by Centre itself recommended a Bench yet no Bench created and maximum 3 High Court Benches were recommended for undivided UP in late 1970s yet not one created and Maharashtra which is the home State of incumbent CJI Dr DY Chandrachud which tops in the latest “Justice Index Ranking of States List” and which already had multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji was given one more at Aurangabad? Why States like Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka whose total population of 7 crores and 6 crores is less than West UP population of 10 crores and they have not just High Court but multiple High Court Benches also and West UP does not have even a Bench due to which litigants have to travel whole night and half day all the way till Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is the biggest injustice and yet why Supreme Court never takes suo motu cognizance of it? Why lawless Bihar with 15 crores population has not even a single Bench?
It is most shocking to learn from the news report by Mr Sandeep Rai in ‘The Times of India’ newspaper dated January 28, 2024 that on January 19, the Special Secretary of the UP State Government had written to the Director General of the Allahabad High Court over taking necessary action as per the rules regarding the establishment of a High Court Division Bench in West Uttar Pradesh but in the next 24 hours, the Special Secretary made a U-turn and cancelled his letter (TOI has accessed both the letters). Gajender Singh Dhama who is a former President of Meerut Bar Association very rightly pointed out that, “A Bench is a necessity for a simple reason: almost 54% of all cases that reach the HC come from West UP’s 22 districts. They (HC lawyers) are concerned about their business but not about the plight of litigants. For the last couple of years, a litigant has to be physically present in the Allahabad HC for photos and other documents and have to rush to High Court after travelling so long for whole night and half day. The Lahore HC is closer to Meerut than the Allahabad HC. Litigants have to travel 700 km to reach the HC to get a Bench.” Most disgusting indeed!
It cannot be denied that State governments also acknowledge the need for a Bench but they succumb in front of the unrelenting pressure of the Allahabad High Court lawyers. This is just not done and is just not acceptable. Even the incumbent President of Meerut Bar – Mr KP Sharma laments with a heavy heart that West UP accounts for the maximum number of pending cases in any part of the country and owes also for more than half of the total number of pending cases of Uttar Pradesh and still has not even a single Bench in any of the districts!
It must be asked: Why this Bench issue in West UP has been hanging fire since last 77 years is most mind-numbing and is totally incomprehensible? The point really is: Denial of even a single Bench to West UP is antithetical to the very concept of “speedy justice” and “justice at doorsteps”. It is a stark reminder of how much injustice has been perpetrated so chillingly, callously and continuously by not allowing even a single High Court Bench in any of the districts of West UP in last 77 years!
It is the bounden duty of the Apex Court to take suo motu cognizance of it and direct appropriate action of creating a High Court Bench in any of the districts of West UP! The last bastion and ray of hope for the more than 10 crore people of West UP is the Supreme Court which is the topmost court of India and which must take suo motu cognizance of the most compelling and most legitimate demand for a High Court Bench in West UP as it is empowered also under Article 142 of the Constitution to do so and as it has done also in so many other far less pressing cases!
Nothing on earth can be more unfortunate than this irrefutable fact that even as India is celebrating its 75th “National Republic Day”, we see that Uttar Pradesh which has maximum population more than 25 crores and so also has maximum MPs both in Lok Sabha and in Rajya Sabha and so also has maximum MLAs among all the States and so also has maximum villages more than one lakh and so also has maximum number of pending cases in High Court more than 10 lakh cases and here too more than half of the pending cases are from West UP and so also has maximum pending cases in lower courts about to touch nearly one crore and so also has maximum number of Judges in all courts both in lower and in High Courts and has maximum members in State Bar Council that is the maximum in the world and still has just one High Court Bench and that too so close to Allahabad at Lucknow established in 1948 more than 76 years ago where it was just not needed at all and nowhere else! Many term Allahabad High Court as the biggest High Court in the world still why it has just one Bench only and why so many smaller States like Karnataka whose population is about 4 crore less than UP at 6 crore we see two High Court Bench created in one go by Centre in 2012 at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts only but not a single for 30 districts of West UP with population of more than 10 crores for which even Justice Jaswant Singh Commission in mid 1980s recommended High Court Bench yet not one created and Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches was given one more as recommended at Aurangabad but for UP for which 3 Benches were created not a single was allowed to come up! These bone chilling facts just cannot be swept inside the carpet! It was in CJI Dr DY Chandrachud’s term as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court in 2014-15 that lawyers of West UP went on 6 months strike yet we saw that no action was taken on creating Bench even though it is a dire necessity! Why?
It has been more than 14 years since the 230th Report of the Law Commission of India was submitted prepared under the Chairmanship of eminent former Supreme Court Judge Dr AR Lakshmanan but still it has not been most unfortunately implemented in big States like UP, Bihar and Rajasthan. Why the landmark recommendations of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission set up by Centre itself under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge – Jaswant Singh was implemented most fraudulently by not approving even a single High Court Bench for undivided Uttar Pradesh for whom it recommended maximum three Benches at Agra, Dehradun and Nainital due to which people of hilly areas had to travel thousands of kilometers all the way to Allahabad most cruelly while most partially approving just one Bench recommended for Maharashtra at Aurangabad created most promptly in early 1980s which already had multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji and so also at West Bengal in Jalpaiguri for just 6 districts which already had Bench at Port Blair for just 2 lakhs people and so also a Bench approved at Madurai in Tamil Nadu but West UP whose population is more than most of the States in India including Tamil Nadu at 10 crores was not given even a single Bench? This was the real reason why the people of hilly regions of undivided UP agitated for separate Statehood and ultimately Uttarakhand created in 2000 and for which not one Bench was conceded then for same Nainital we saw Centre conceding a separate High Court!
The billion dollar question is: Is this is what Centre wants to happen in UP also? By the way, Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan who is Union Minister recently in a Jat Summit in Meerut promised separate High Court and separate Statehood! What is Centre upto? Does it want huge agitations for separate Statehood in West UP? Can’t it approve even a single Bench for West UP? It is absolutely astounding to see how brazenly, blindly and brutally Centre has rode roughshod over the most legitimate and dire need for a High Court Bench in West UP! This is what the newly elected President of Meerut Bar – Mr Rohitashwa Kumar Agarwal has vowed firmly not to take it lying down!
Sanjeev Sirohi