“I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test:
Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?
Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Can anyone deny that the distance from Allahabad to Meerut is 637 km, to Muzaffarnagar is 693 km, to Saharanpur is nearly 752 km to Baghpat is 700 km, to Ghaziabad is 662 km, to Bijnore is 692 km, to Gautam Budh Nagar is 650 km, to Bulandshahar is 567 km, to Hathras is 550 km, to Rampur is 633 km, to Moradabad is 662 km, to Aligarh and Mathura is 501 km, to Agra is 464 km, to Etah is 497 km and to Mainpuri is 462 km? Under such circumstances how can cheap, affordable and speedy justice be delivered to the litigants of West UP? But our government is least concerned about all this which saddens me most.
Can anyone deny what the former national general secretary, chairman of CWC and now Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said: “Considering the huge distance from Allahabad and pending cases the demand for creation of High Court Bench is fully justified. It is the people of West UP who will gain more than lawyers”? Can anyone deny that a huge army of reputed politicians like our former Prime Ministers like late Mrs Indira Gandhi, late Rajiv Gandhi, late VP Singh, late PV Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and tall leaders like late Rajesh Pilot, our present Law Minister Veerappa Moily, as also Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, Sachin Pilot , Dr Farooq Abdullah and many others have time and again expressed their unequivocal support for legitimate and justified demand of a Bench in West UP? It was not for fun that former Law minister P Shiv Shankar made a statement at the floor of the house that the demand for the High Court Bench in West UP was genuine?
Sompal Shastri, eminent politician and former Central Minister very rightly said that, “There are 50 percent cases of West UP in High Court. In other States there are more than two Benches, then why not here?” Can anyone deny the logic of what Gajendra Singh Dhama, the former Chairman of Action Committee for pursuing creation of Bench in West UP and former President of Meerut Bar Association, said: “The need of the hour is to dispense speedy justice. Why the delay in establishing a Bench in West UP when state smaller or one-third the size, like Maharashtra, Orissa or MP have Benches since years?” BN Krishnamani who is former Chairman of Supreme Court Bar Association also said that, “Only by the creation of a High Court Bench in West UP will the people get justice in time.” What a pity that Centre keeps on blaming State only for not recommending even when it was in 1955 that a bench for West UP was first recommended and none other than Soli J Sorabjee, the former Attorney General and eminent jurist rightly said that, “The Centre without any recommendation from the State Chief Minister or Chief Justice of a State is fully empowered under our Constitution to set up a high court bench anywhere it wants at its own volition”!
Can anyone deny that when one of the most distinguished senior lawyer and former President of Meerut Bar Chaudhary Narendra Pal Singh while leading a high level delegation of lawyers from West UP presented a memorandum for a Bench to our former President late Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma, he fully appreciated its contents and personally favoured the creation of a high court bench in West UP? Can anyone deny that many more Presidents have also endorsed the creation of a high court bench in West UP? Can anyone deny what Rajnath Singh, the President of BJP – the main opposition party said recently while endorsing the necessity of Bench that “Our Constitution speaks about cheap, easy and timely justice to people but in UP this is being openly mocked. The population of UP is quite gargantuan and here there is just one High Court and one Bench due to which it is not possible for the people here in West UP to get cheap, easy and speedy justice ever?”
It can only happen in a country like India that the state of Uttar Pradesh which has the maximum population among all states, maximum districts, maximum constituencies, maximum poverty , maximum crime, maximum pending cases among all states which is nearly half of the pending cases all over India and is also among the top few largest states area wise has least number of high court benches in entire nation! In 2011, the percentage of crime incidents in UP was 33.3 % of the country’s total which itself serves as the biggest proof of just how bad things are in UP. Inspite of all this, there is only just one bench of high court in UP and that too just about 150 km from Allahabad high court ! This notwithstanding that it is West UP which accounts for more than half of the pending cases in UP and is considered the crime capital of UP!
Ever since 1955 when Dr Sampoorna Nand, the then Chief Minister of UP recommended that a bench of high court be established in West UP at Meerut, at least 14 Chief Ministers have time and again recommended in favour. But still it has not materialised. In 1986, the former Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj made a statement in Rajya Sabha in response to a question of the then leader of opposition Atal Bihari Vajpayee that, “The government in principle has agreed for establishment of high court bench in West UP and the question of situs of the bench was left to the Central government as Agra was not found to be a suitable place. But where majority of people expect the bench to be formed, it will be formed there”. Vajpayee had himself said that if his party came to power in Centre, it will take no time in creating a bench in West UP. It is the bounden duty of every government to provide speedy justice to litigants and how can this be possible without creating more benches in UP? Many former PMs like late Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and others have espoused the creation of a bench in West UP and even the present government has appreciated its necessity. But no one has ever cared to implement the tall promises made to the people of West UP by creating a high court bench here which they repeatedly promised only to forget later !
In 1955, the government of Dr Sampoorna Nand and in 1976 the government of ND Tiwari passed a resolution in UP Vidhan Sabha favouring creation of a high court bench in West UP and sent it to Centre. ND Tiwari, in the communication addressed by him to the Central government in 1976 had expressly stated that in view of the developments that had taken place, since the submission by the Law Commission of its 14th report in 1958, setting up of a separate high court for smaller states which had come into being since 1956, the creation of some benches at places other than the principal seats of justice in Bihar and Rajasthan and marked improvement in legal talent at some principal towns of the western region of the state, the demand of the people of the state for a separate bench of the Allahabad High Court could no longer be resisted. Even the Chief Justices of Allahabad High Court in 1979 and 1985 have admitted that for the welfare of the litigants, the creation of a high court bench in West UP is imperative. Mayawati in 1995 as UP CM had recommended West UP to be made a separate state!
Can we ignore that in many cases pertaining to West UP, either the plaintiff or the defendant or even both in some cases have died but still their cases have not yet been decided? Is it not a mockery of justice? I will cite few cases to substantiate my valid point:-
(a) Second Appeal 1278/74 Smt Aziz Begum v. Union of India, pending since 1974.
(b) Second Appeal 2177/75 Harishankar Others v. Bheygilu, pending since 1975.
(c) Second Appeal 2320/76 Jaswant Singh v. Deep Chand, pending since 1976.
(d) Writ Number 316/74 Ganga Devi v. Ram Har Singh, pending since 1974.
(e) Writ Number 447/73 Jagnarayan v. DDC, pending since 1973.
Can anyone deny that West UP gives maximum revenue and yet they are facing worst punishment of being denied even their basic right of getting speedy and affordable justice as promised in our Constitution? Can anyone deny that article 214 of our Constitution which the critics opposed to creation of more Benches of High Court keep citing repeatedly nowhere prohibits the creation of new Benches? If there should be no High Court Bench as some lawyers of Allahabad High Court very vociferously argue, then my simple question to them is that, “Why is there a Bench at Lucknow which is so near to Allahabad?” When a Bench can exist in Lucknow then why not in Meerut or Agra or any of 22 districts of West UP which are at a huge distance causing maximum inconveniences to the people here? Is it not a fact that initially High Court was based at Agra and later transferred to Allahabad ? Can we ignore even what the Supreme Court in Naseeruddin v. State Transport Appellate Tribunal reported in AIR 1976 SC 331, relevant portion of the para 68 of ruling, relating to para 14 of UP High Courts (Amalgamation) Order 1948 said that, “There is no permanent seat of High Court at Allahabad, the seats at Allahabad and at Lucknow may be change in accordance with the provision of the order”? Should common man of West UP be still deprived of his basic right of having a High Court Bench in West UP? Many smaller states have more benches and this is most unfortunate because it is the people of West UP who have suffered the most since last 65 years as they have to travel maximum and bear innumerable inconveniences. But who cares? At least, those who have been in power in UP and Centre have cared a damn. If they had cared, the people of West UP would not have been given a cold shoulder since 1947 and a bench would have been here long time back. Government is announcing high courts for small states like Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura but no one is bothered about West UP! Why? According to a statement by learned Andhra Pradesh High Court Judge Justice VV Rao in March 2010, “The Indian judiciary would take 320 years to clear the backlog of 31.28 million cases pending in various courts including High Courts in the country’’. Any attempt to speed up the disbursal of justice could go a long way in addressing the problem and what better than the setting up of more High Court benches and to start with which state is better than UP which is one of the biggest state in India, has maximum pending cases among all the states accounting for nearly half of the total pending cases and here too it is West UP which accounts for most of the cases among the pending cases in UP! Setting up of more High Court benches will help the system to come out of its present inertia and address the endless woes of the poorest of the poor who suffer the most in the entire process of delivery of justice for no fault of theirs!
Can anyone deny that on the report of Jaswant Singh Commission a high court bench at Aurangabad in Maharashtra has already been established in 1985, at Madurai in Tamil Nadu and at Jalpaiguri in West Bengal but the people of West UP have been unfairly denied the same despite the fact that this Commission had very strongly recommended creation of a bench here? What can be a bigger injustice for the common man of West UP than the harsh and lamentable fact that the High Courts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and above all even Lahore High Court are nearer to West UP in comparison to Allahabad High Court? It is high time and now the government must stop bluffing the people of West UP and take prompt action in creating a high court bench here at the earliest without advancing one or the other lame excuse for not doing the same !
Former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan recently said that, “Only more courts can make justice delivery effective. If we have adequate courts, the system would function smoothly”. Even a fool will tell you that UP being one of the biggest states in India with maximum population, maximum districts and maximum pending cases certainly needs more benches and not the least as we shamefully see right now. It’s an out and out fraud perpetrated on the people of UP and worst affected are the people of West UP since last 74 years. It is time we realised that a nation where pending cases like Frankenstein’s monster are assuming more and more gigantic proportions with UP topping the notorious hit list will go to wolves if the festering problem of pending cases is not addressed at the earliest by promptly creating more benches in UP. It makes absolutely no sense to perpetuate the historical blunder of vesting UP with only one bench. Prof NR Madhava Menon who is a founder director of the National Judicial Academy and a former member of the Law Commission of India very rightly said : “The litigant public now has a right to demand from the judiciary quicker delivery of justice, planned elimination of arrears and enhanced access to justice. The judiciary is indeed on trial on its commitment to timely justice. No more alibis would be acceptable to the public.”
What is the purpose of setting up the Law Commission if their recommendations are not implemented? I only hope that wisdom prevails on our policy-makers and they decide at the earliest to create many more Benches of High Court as recommended recently by the Law Commission in its 230th report especially in big States like UP and Rajasthan which have only one Bench. The media must at least now step forward and represent the unheard voices of thousands of undertrial prisoners residing in remote areas who are the worst sufferers in the whole process and unstintedly support the people of West UP in their noble cause for setting up a bench of high court in West UP at the earliest !
How strange that not even the 230th Report of the Law Commission invited any interest from our media which strongly advocated setting up of more High Court Benches and sharply castigated the prevailing “Uncle Judges Culture” and unsatisfactory performance of High Court in disposing of pending cases. Recently even Supreme Court had also lashed out on the prevailing “Uncle Judges Culture” in different High Courts. What I find even more paradoxical is that the maximum opposition for establishment of more Benches emanates mainly from those advocates practicing in High Court or those people residing in the place where the High Court is located. Very conveniently, they ignore the undisputed fact that it is the “poorest of the poor” and not the “richest of the rich” who will benefit the most if more Benches are created because they cannot afford heavy expenses incurred in travelling, lodging and many other related things and therefore emerge as the worst sufferers. This is exactly what not only the media but most of us tend to ignore.
Let us not make the system more chaotic than it already is by denying Benches to remote, far flung areas inspite of Law Commission’s clear recommendations in this regard time and again. Both Centre and State must immediately shed off their dilly dallying approach which I personally consider no less than criminal negligence perpetrated on millions of innocent people of West UP. Their sole crime is they are born in West UP.
I am not just thinking or being bothered about the more than 9 crore people of West UP. I am thinking about it from a very broad national perspective. Being from a defence background, I have mostly stayed out of UP and until very recently was oblivious of this screaming issue of Bench in West UP. I am equally concerned about the poorest of the poor residing in far-flung areas other than in West UP also and who compulsorily have to suffer endlessly all over India because the High Courts are very far. This humungous problem can be solved only by creating more Benches of High Courts in various parts of our country wherever necessary. Are the Centre and State especially Centre who has extraordinary powers under our Constitution not guilty of being nonchalant or deaf and blind towards the sorry plight of more than 9 crore people of West UP towards which Centre cannot escape the major blame by shifting every time the onus on State? The more than 9 crore people of West UP have been treated like jokers by never listening to their genuine grievances which makes me truly sad not because I am from West UP but only and only because I am an Indian first who have been staying in West UP only since last few years and personally witnessed the endless discrimination faced by the people here. Just like two wrongs cannot make a right similarly by denying a Bench to West UP since 74 years which has been a historic blunder cannot be any ground to deny it forever. When will our government wake-up its ideas and do the needful of granting a Bench immediately to West UP?
Why are always all the legitimate demands of West UP as in the case of setting up of a Bench here first appreciated by all major political parties only to be later thrown in the backyard? Why? Please tell me why? What is preventing or stopping the Government from giving the green signal for creation of one more Bench in UP which has the maximum pending cases in our country but the least number of Benches which they have acknowledged also time and again ? Isn’t this a national shame? Can anyone deny that in Allahabad High Court, the strength of judges is 166 but only 90 judges are working mainly because for the rest there is no court room and residence facility? Does it mean the Allahabad High Court should be disbanded? Certainly not rather the deficiencies should be removed by creating the necessary infrastructure. Does this not hold true in case of Bench in West UP also? By providing all facilities, here too a Bench can function very smoothly. Can anyone deny that from most of the areas of West UP, the High Courts of 8 States are nearer as compared to Allahabad High Court? Can anyone deny that in 1985 Jaswant Singh had written in his report that there should be a Bench in West UP and it was also mentioned in the report that in the High Court inspite of paying full fees, the lawyers of Allahabad don’t take much interest in the cases of West UP? Still should a Bench not be created ? Can anyone deny that even if we disagree with what Jaswant Singh had said in his report, we cannot overlook the basic fact that 15 lakh cases are pending in Allahabad High Court and out of it nearly 57% cases are from West UP? It is therefore in the interest of justice for common man especially the poorest of the poor who suffers the most that a High Court Bench must be immediately established in West UP. Can anyone deny that for 160 judges in High Court of UP there is only one Bench whereas in Maharashtra for 40 judges there are three Benches of High Court, for 40 judges of Rajasthan High Court there are 2 Benches of High Court and for 42 judges of Madhya Pradesh High Court there is a High Court at Jabalpur and 2 Benches at Indore and Gwalior? Can anyone deny that in West UP inspite of more than 11 lakh pending cases, a Bench of High Court has not been established but in a small state like Sikkim where only 56 cases are pending, a High Court has been established with three judges? Shameful!
Can anyone deny that the population of Madhya Pradesh is just 6.62 crores and it has its High Court in Jabalpur and Benches at Bhopal, Indore and Gwalior? Similarly Maharashtra whose population is 7.89 crore has High Court at Mumbai and Benches at Nagpur and Aurangabad. Also West Bengal’s population is 6.81 crore and it has High Court at Kolkata and Bench at Port Blair. Can anyone deny that the population of Rajasthan is only 4.40 crore which is much less than West UP’s figure of 6 crore and yet it has its High Court at Jodhpur and Bench at Jaipur? Similarly Tamil Nadu whose population is 5.57 crore, Gujarat – 4.13 crore, Assam – 2.24 crore and yet they all have their own High Court. Then why not for people of West UP whose strength is more than 7 crore?
Can anyone deny that West UP has been denied even a circuit Bench since last 65 years? When the pending cases in High Court is huge, the Central Law Ministry establishes a circuit Bench by which one or two judge in decided time limit on regional level decides cases. Guwahati High Court of Assam has two circuit Benches at Agartala and Shillong, similarly Bangalore High Court has three circuit Benches at Hubli, Dharwad and Gulbarga and Kolkata has one circuit Bench at Port Blair. What a pity that UP has none inspite of being the most populated State of India! Can anyone deny that a proposal had come during Rajnath Singh’s tenure as Chief Minister to establish a circuit Bench in West UP but because of heavy opposition from various quarters this proposal too was wrongly nipped in the bud even before it could hatch ? Can anyone deny especially the lawyers of Allahabad who oppose the setting up of a Bench in UP on the specious and ludicrous plea that this will be against “One State, One High Court” principle that even presently in UP itself, there is a Bench of High Court in Lucknow also and in many other smaller states there are more than one Benches? I want to frankly ask opposing lawyers of Allahabad High Court that are they even deadly opposed to a Bench of High Court in Lucknow on this ground? Why have they never opposed it?
Can anyone deny that Apex Court in State of Maharashtra V. Narayan Shyamrao Poranik’s case reported in AIR 1983 SC 46 categorically held that this ground of “dignity and integrity of the High Court being compromised” is not sufficient to deny Benches at various places if the demand is genuine and is for the purpose of redressal of the grievances of public at large? Can anyone deny that Jaswant Singh Commission took this factor into account and held in its report that neither the cohesion, nor the integrity of Allahabad High Court, nor the efficiency of the Bench would be impaired by conceding the demand? Can anyone deny that former CJI Ranjan Gogoi in 2018 had conceded that the demand for a High Court Bench in West UP is genuine but it is for Centre to decide while ruling on a PIL filed by a woman lawyer KL Chitra?
Can anyone deny that the 18th Law Commission in its 230th report noted : “In almost every High Court, there is huge pendency of cases and the present strength of the judges can hardly be said to be sufficient to cope with the alarming situation. The institution of cases is much more than the disposal and it adds to arrears of cases. The litigating citizens have a fundamental right of life i.e. a tension-free life through speedy justice-delivery system. Now it has become essential that the present strength of the judges should be increased manifold according to the pendency, present and probable. It is also necessary that the work of the High Courts is decentralized, that is, more Benches are established in all States. If there is manifold increase in the strength of the judges and the staff, all cannot be housed in one campus. Therefore, the establishment of new Benches is necessary. It is also in the interest of the litigants. The Benches should be so established that a litigant is not required to travel long. It is true that the new establishments will require money, but it is necessary as a development measure, particularly, when efforts are being made for all-round development of the country. Therefore, the money should not be a problem. We have to watch and protect the interest of the litigants. We must always keep in mind that the existence of judges and advocates is because of the litigants and they are there to serve their cause only. Sometimes, some advocates object to creation of new Benches and selection of new sites for construction of new buildings. But they raise objections in their personal, limited interest. Creation of new Benches is certainly beneficial for the litigants and the lawyers and a beginning has to be made somewhere. A speedy trial is not only required to give quick justice but it is also an integral part of the fundamental right of life, personal liberty, as envisaged in article 21 of the Constitution. Article 39A of the Constitution provides for equal justice and free legal aid. The said article obligates the State to promote justice on a basis of equal opportunity and, in particular, provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities?” It is an unbeatable irony that while our government is busy creating more high courts for north – east states where the number of pending cases is virtually next to nothing but is not prepared to create more high court benches for big states like UP where the number of pending cases is nearly half that of the total number of pending cases in entire country !
If there should be no High Court Bench as some lawyers of Allahabad High Court very vociferously argue, then my simple question to them is that, “Why is there a Bench at Lucknow which is so near to Allahabad?” When a Bench can exist in Lucknow just 150 km away from Allahabad then why not in Meerut or Agra or any of 22 districts of West UP which are at a huge distance averaging 600 – 700 km thus causing maximum inconveniences to the people here? When a Bench can exist in Lucknow then why not in Meerut or Agra or any of 22 districts of West UP which are at a huge distance causing maximum inconveniences to the people here? Is it not a fact that initially High Court was based at Agra and later transferred to Allahabad ? Can anyone deny that for just 12 districts there is a Bench at Lucknow then why should West UP having 22 districts with more than 7 crore population be denied a Bench?
Can we ignore even what the Supreme Court in Naseeruddin v. State Transport Appellate Tribunal reported in AIR 1976 SC 331, relevant portion of the para 68 of ruling, relating to para 14 of UP High Courts (Amalgamation) Order 1948 said that, “There is no permanent seat of High Court at Allahabad, the seats at Allahabad and at Lucknow may be change in accordance with the provision of the order”? Should common man of West UP be still deprived of his basic right of having a High Court Bench in West UP?
Can anyone deny that for just 12 districts there is a Bench at Lucknow then why should West UP having 26 districts with more than 9 crore population be denied a Bench? Can anyone deny that the areas within jurisdiction of Lucknow High Court lie within a radius of 100 kms only but West UP is attached with Allahabad and the average distance is more than 600 km and in some cases even more than 700 km? Can anyone deny that the area of central region is just 62, 363 square km and still there is a Bench at Lucknow whereas the area of West UP is 98, 933 square km but still no Bench? Is it really fair?
Can anyone deny that for every case in Allahabad High Court, the advocates are given fees of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 and the people of West UP every year shell out Rs 100 crore to the lawyers of Allahabad? Not just stopping here only, the endless woes of people of West UP continue further as they have to spend nearly Rs 50 crore on travelling, staying and other related expenses. Can anyone deny that there are only one or two train to Allahabad? People from West UP don’t get reservation. Aged people and women are the worst affected and have to shell out more than Rs 3,000-4000 in just one hearing alone. If a date is given, again money has to be spent in staying or coming back and it is the poor class who is worst hit in this whole process? Does anyone in India who are in power really ever think about them? The tragedy of tragedy is that still their cases are not disposed of in time. Still should a Bench of High Court in West UP not be created? Former Chairman of Supreme Court Bar Association Krishna Mani has said in unambiguous terms that, “Only by the creation of a Bench in West UP will the people be able to secure justice.’’
I am certainly not against creation of High Courts in North – Eastern States which rather I would welcome as a very positive development which would certainly usher in much respite for the people residing there but what about setting up just a High Court bench only and not even a High Court for rendering speedy justice to the more than 9 million people residing in West UP which is more than the population of people in either of the three states – Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya with just few lakhs population and who have been agitating since 1947 for a high court bench? Government must spare some food of thought for them also who have been relentlessly pitching in for the same since independence but whose voice has been blithely disregarded by all the successive governments in Centre since independence which is most unfortunate! Even for Arunachal Pradesh, law ministry has given the green signal for the creation of High Court itself then what is the problem in granting just a bench of High Court for West UP who have been agitating for the same since many decades ?
What a pity that Lahore High Court in Pakistan is nearer to the people of West UP as compared to Allahabad High Court. The lawyers of West UP obviously don’t enjoy going on strike every Saturday since 1981 because ultimately it is lawyers own livelihood which is most adversely affected which the world must understand and appreciate. This decision was taken unanimously by all lawyers of West UP as a “token protest” against the abject callousness and utter disregard for the genuine grievances of a common people who have to suffer the most especially those who are very poor and can’t afford to incur the huge expenses relating to travelling more than 600 or 700 km or even more, engaging a lawyer, staying in Allahabad etc. It is the illiterate people who are fooled the most in the whole process by cunning people of whom there is no dearth and government too is not doing any good by turning a blind eye to the endless woes suffered by the people of West UP since independence which is most disgusting to note. The condition of educated and financially well off is not much better either especially the middle class. It is high time and now the government must take prompt action in creating a bench of high court for the millions of people residing in West UP’’!
It is most shocking that UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 23 crore, 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 Judges both in High Court – 160 and also in lower courts, maximum vacancies of Judges about 60, maximum members in UP Bar Council more than 1 lakh and which is also the largest Bar Council in the world 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 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 end of 2020 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? 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 8 districts has a bench!
In sum, West UP too is a part of India and it is the bounden duty of the Central government to cater to the long term interests of the people residing here by agreeing for the creation of a High Court bench here as early as possible for which they have been agitating also ever since independence! I do hope fervently that the government would make some positive steps in this direction as it had promised also many times in the past and not adopt a nonchalant approach which would be most regrettable!
Sanjeev Sirohi