It is a matter of supreme irony that the most populated State of India that is Uttar Pradesh which tops the State list with maximum number of pending cases has just one High Court Bench at Lucknow so close to Allahabad in Eastern UP created 78 years ago in July 1948 and West UP which owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court has been attached with not even Lucknow which falls much earlier but right uptill Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is the biggest betrayal of Constitution, deepest burial of justice and worst mockery of poorest litigants of 30 districts of West UP who have to travel whole night and nearly a day by train about 700 to 800 km on average most shockingly! From a legal standpoint, it is UP which tops the State list in having maximum number of pending cases and so also has maximum population and here too it is West UP which owes for majority of pending cases of UP and still leave alone High Court or Bench not even a Circuit Bench is ready to concede most disgracefully! I often find myself battling with a moot question: Why is Centre so hell bent in denying West UP even a single Bench and thwarting all chances of creating even a Circuit Bench most spinelessly without any remorse or regret?
The prominent view is that Centre is fully culpable for depriving West UP from having even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench just like in Purvanchal and Bundelkhand! Centre needs to think hard and deep that why it has so irrationally deprived West UP from having even a single Bench? How long will Centre keep appeasing naysayers who most vehemently oppose the setting up of even a single Bench in West UP for serving their own vested interests?
It is definitely most deeply anguishing to see that the lawyers of 22 districts of West UP out of total 30 districts with more than 10 crore people have been so unitedly agitating for a High Court Bench with full discipline since last about 80 years of independence and I myself have been personal witness to this most sacred agitation since last about 25 years in Meerut yet most disappointingly to no avail! As recently as on 20 September, 2025, the lawyers of West UP of 22 districts protested and held dharna and protested against the step-motherly treatment accorded to West UP and on December 17, 2025 there will be shutdown in West UP in protest of denial of High Court Bench to West UP because once again Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches at Aurangabad, Nagpur and Panaji was given one more at Kolhapur for just 6 districts and population also very less but West UP with 30 districts and more than 10 crores people has not even a single Circuit Bench! This is definitely most disgusting indeed and presents a most disturbing picture of the sorry state of affairs and “open slaughtering of justice and equality” yet Centre is not doing anything on this even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge appointed by Centre itself about 50 years ago recommended permanent seat of High Court Bench in West UP at Agra yet not created till date anywhere in West UP and on its recommendation one High Court Bench already created at Aurangabad in 1980s itself for just about 7 districts then!
By the way, Maharashtra is not most populated State of India nor has maximum number of pending cases and still has so many High Court Benches while big States like UP and Rajasthan having only one each and lawless Bihar with more population than Maharashtra not even one and UP which has more than double the population of Maharashtra has just one and that too so close to Allahabad at Lucknow and litigants of West UP attached with not even Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad which means whole night and nearly a day wasted in just travelling alone about 700 to 750 km on average by train while Kolhapur and adjoining districts averages 350 to 380 km and still one more High Court Bench in Kolhapur for just 6 districts started functioning from Aug 18, 2025! Why is Supreme Court not taking suo motu cognizance of non-implementation of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission report in West UP even after horrible partition of UP 25 years ago due to this reason only and with what face has it allowed fifth High Court Bench in Kolhapur for just 6 districts whose population is more than 10 times less than that of West UP for whom Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended permanent seat of High Court Bench about 50 years ago is most startling indeed? All I am saying and submitting is: For how long will West UP be deprived from having not just a permanent seat of High Court Bench but even a Circuit Bench so spinelessly and so sinisterly by Centre with Apex Court leaving litigants of West UP at whims and fancies of Centre as we have seen since last about 80 years?
It must be mentioned here that the lawyers of few districts under Agra are protesting separately and they too are demanding nothing but just High Court Bench in West UP! When I just landed in Meerut in 2001, the lawyers of West UP were on 6 months strike and in 2014-15 also we saw 6 months strike apart from strike every Saturday since May 1981 till November 2025 due to most unjustified denial of even a single High Court Bench to West UP apart from so many padyatras and hunger strikes etc! It is jaw dropping to note how irrationally Centre has chillingly deprived West UP from having even a single Bench not even a Circuit Bench!
Whom is Centre fooling and for how long will it keep fooling? Why all successive governments in power in Centre in last about 80 years have either downplayed or disregarded or discarded the most compelling and most legitimate demand for a High Court Bench in West UP even though it is West UP which owes for majority of the pending cases of Allahabad High Court? The point that still remains is: Why is Centre not taking any tangible step to set in motion the process of creating a High Court Bench in West UP pending since last so many decades and remove all the cobwebs that come in path of moving forward to lay the groundwork of creating a High Court Bench in West UP?
It would be unfair and naive not to recognize that even Apex Court itself since last about 80 years have given open green signal to Centre to most horribly discriminate in the distribution of High Courts and High Court Benches and High Court Circuit Benches in different States and different regions with impunity without ever being held accountable whatsoever in any manner! I am at my wits end to comprehend that what is wrong with Apex Court which has never bothered to ever take suo motu cognizance of such a serious long festering issue! It distresses me most to see that Apex Court which is custodian of fundamental rights like right to equality as enshrined in Article 14 of Constitution is also since last about 80 years sitting pretty relaxed with folded hands leaving litigants of 30 districts of West UP at whims and fancies of Centre just like in case of litigants of hilly areas of undivided UP who too had to travel thousands of kilometers all the way till Allahabad High Court most mercilessly despite the irrefutable fact that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended two High Court Circuit Benches at Dehradun and Nainital for hilly areas of undivided UP and a permanent seat of High Court Bench in West UP in Agra yet not one created which was the prime reason for the demand of separate Statehood gaining currency and ultimately when huge agitations broke out, we saw separate Statehood itself was granted 25 years ago for hilly areas of undivided UP with just 88 lakh people and so also separate High Court at Nainital! Does Centre want one more partition of UP?
What is Supreme Court meant for when right to equality as enshrined in Article 14 of Constitution is trampled upon most horrendously and most mercilessly by Centre by shamelessly perpetrating most third rated worst discrimination perpetrated in distribution of High Courts, High Court Benches and High Court Circuit Benches in different States and different regions without any rhyme or reason? The sole hegemony of few elite regions like Eastern UP having both High Court at Allahabad and a single High Court Bench at Lucknow so close to each other is continuing uninterrupted for nearly 80 years and so also few elite States like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka and Assam is continuing uninterrupted and yet Supreme Court by never taking suo motu cognizance of it has disgraced itself most horribly leaving its reputation in tatters on this front! It definitely merits course correction at earliest to salvage its lost reputation on this count and must do some honest and serious self introspection on it!
The most critical question is: 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 which was prime reason for partition of undivided UP 25 years ago, 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? Over and above all, how can Centre and top court most mercilessly and most groundlessly keep favouring baseless, blatant and brutal discrimination between different States and different regions and keep rubbishing the most legitimate demand for a High Court Bench in West UP without any bona fide reason as per its own whims and fancies as we see also right now?
Unquestionably, UP would never have been partitioned if Supreme Court had displayed moral spine to order two High Court Circuit Benches in Dehradun and Nainital as was recommended also by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission appointed by Centre itself and so many innocent persons would not have lost their lives in the demand for Bench escalating into separate Statehood itself! The lawyers of hilly areas and lawyers of West UP unitedly struggled for the implementation of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission in UP where it recommended maximum three High Court Benches yet not even one created most horrendously leading to partition of UP 25 years ago! What if situation in West UP turns out similarly in future with demand for separate Statehood gaining chorus? Who will be held responsible for it? It is Supreme Court and Centre who would be blamed for doing absolutely just nothing on it!
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 the pendency of cases in Allahabad High Court continues to be staggeringly high putting an unprecedented strain on the judicial system and 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!
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 so also contributing to more than 80% of the 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!
By all accounts, there can be just no gainsaying that failure to act will not only just erode but also completely destroy public trust in the judiciary and the systemic bias against West UP that has already been exposed as we see openly that how despite owing for majority of the pending cases of Allahabad High Court and contributing again in majority to the State’s economy only to receive such a shabby step-motherly treatment by being denied most unfairly the right to “speedy and affordable justice at doorsteps for so long without any bona fide reason which culminates in justice being delayed and justice delayed is justice denied! It is high time and Supreme Court must definitely now take suo motu cognizance of it most promptly and stop keeping a deafening silence that affects billions of litigants so hugely with poorest litigants bearing the worst brunt!
Sanjeev Sirohi