It is really worth applauding that UP CM Yogi Adityanath has in recognition to most tireless public service of PM Narendra Damodardas Modi – 13 years as Gujarat CM and 12 years as PM has declared that Jewar international airport in Noida to be named after PM who has ensured that UP has maximum international airports among all the States in India which is undoubtedly a very big achievement! In the same vein, this also begs a moot question: Why can’t UP CM Adityanath also ensure that a High Court Bench is created in Meerut also in West UP and named after PM Narendra Damodardas Modi? This definitely must be given a serious food of thought as West UP has not even a single Bench anywhere in any of the 30 districts of West UP!
It is on record that Uttar Pradesh has maximum number of airports – 21 and maximum international airports – 5 at Lucknow, Kushinagar, Ayodhya, Varanasi and Noida in West UP still only one High Court Bench at Lucknow so close to Allahabad High Court and litigants of West UP attached with not even Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad so far away most stupidly and most atrociously! For foreigners maximum facility of maximum airports in Uttar Pradesh, maximum super expressways and bullet trains also shall start soon but for litigants of West UP, Purvanchal and Bundelkhand not even a single High Court Bench just like we see in Bihar and Orissa and many other States by which Indians will gain most and not foreigners! How can Centre ever deny, distort or dispute such most irrefutable facts that stare us in face since last 80 years? How can UP State Government also refuse to read the clear writing on the wall?
It is Meerut which is most boldly and most enthusiastically leading the united agitation of 22 districts of West UP which in total has 30 districts since last more than so many decades which is all on record yet we see that ever since Jawaharlal Nehru created a High Court Bench permanent seat in Lucknow in July 1948 so close to Allahabad High Court where no High Court Bench was actually needed, not even a single Bench leave alone permanent not even a Circuit Bench created thereafter in last 80 years of independence which is definitely the biggest national disgrace as Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge appointed by Centre itself recommended maximum three High Court Benches for undivided UP – permanent seat in West UP and two Circuit Benches in Dehradun and Nainital yet not even a single created most horrendously which culminated in the partition of Uttar Pradesh more than 26 years ago after many people of hilly areas sacrificed their precious lives as the litigants had to travel thousands of kilometers yet Supreme Court most miserably failed utterly to take suo motu cognizance of “open dacoity” perpetrated in distribution of High Court Benches in different States and different regions with impunity watching everything like a hapless, hopeless and helpless spectator and States like Maharashtra whose population is more than half less of UP and so also pending cases less than even West UP and which already had High Court and multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji one more created at Aurangabad for very few districts just 7 then and so also at Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and at Madurai in Tamil Nadu! How can this be ever justified on any pretext whatsoever by any person in his/her right senses? This is the biggest stain on the unblemished track record of even Apex Court and it did not crown itself with glory by never daring to take suo motu cognizance of worst discrimination perpetrated in the distribution of High Court Benches in different States and different regions right under its very nose!
Even now we saw how creation again in Maharashtra at Kolhapur for just 6 districts a High Court Bench which is fifth whose distance till Mumbai just about 300 to 350 km yet created but for 30 districts of West UP with more than 10 or 11 crore people which nearly equals population of Maharashtra and pending cases far more than Maharashtra and still has not even a single Bench not even a Circuit Bench and litigants of West UP have to travel 700 to 800 km on average all the way till not even Lucknow but far away till Allahabad even though West UP contributes maximum to State economy and owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court only to get such a step-motherly third rated treatment which has just no parallel in any other State in India? Once again most distressingly we have seen that Apex Court once again has failed most miserably to take suo motu cognizance of it even though in so many other cases it takes suo motu cognizance at the drop of a hat! None other than CJI Hon’ble Mr Surya Kant has himself acknowledged the dire need of a High Court Bench in West UP on more than one occasion yet has never dared to take suo motu cognizance of it which definitely makes for most depressing reading!
What I find most irksome is that even now Apex Court is just no ready to open its eyes imitating Centre for 80 years of independence which definitely should not have been the case! When Supreme Court can take suo motu cognizance of The Indian Express report published on September 30 and ask Centre to give detailed plan on relocation of 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library currently housed in Shastri Bhavan which is set to be torn down as part of the Central Vista revamp plan then why the hell can’t it take suo motu cognizance of West UP with more than 10 or 11 crore people with 30 districts being deprived from having even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench which directly concerns judiciary itself for whom Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge appointed by Centre itself recommended a permanent seat in West UP at Agra about 50 years ago? If Agra was not found suitable then why not Meerut with whom lawyers of 22 districts of West UP are unitedly agitating for so many decades where PM Narendra Modi keeps coming especially at times of elections to visit Augharnath Baba temple of Mahadev and kick starts elections also from Meerut which is a historical city also from where first war of independence against Britishers started and is central location also from most of the districts? How long will the “needless impasse” over the creation of a High Court Bench in West UP continue endlessly, needlessly and aimlessly?
It has to be said most forthrightly without mincing any words whatsoever that, “West UP not having even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench is nothing but biggest absurdity on earth on one pretext or the other that tantamounts to “biggest theatre of the absurd” that has been perpetrated since last 80 years of independence and Centre appears in no mood till date to weed out what I have just pointed out which I find most astounding indeed”. I just fail to comprehend that what logic does it make that West UP which owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court with maximum districts among all the regions of Uttar Pradesh – 30 and which contributes maximum to the State economy and the reward the litigants of West UP have got is that they have to travel not only till Lucknow where a High Court Bench permanent seat was created way back in July 1948 so close to Allahabad High Court most horribly and as if this was not enough Centre ensured that the litigants of 30 districts of West UP and hilly areas of undivided UP were attached with not even Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad treating them like biggest donkeys on earth just like litigants of hilly areas of undivided UP who had to travel thousands of kilometers all the way till not even Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad which is even more dreadful and which led to huge agitations and when many people sacrificed their precious lives then what it culminated was that same Centre which was not ready to create even a single High Court Circuit Bench for them then ensured partition of Uttar Pradesh into Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and separate High Court at Nainital and separate Capital at Dehradun and no Punjab and Haryana formula of same High Court and same capital for just 88 lakh people! Nothing can be more unfortunate than this!
The simple point being made here is that it is Centre which most unscrupulously has been acting as the biggest stumbling block for creation of High Court Bench in West UP on one pretext or the other which has only served to portray it in poor light just like being the biggest litigator has hugely denigrated its reputation that cannot be swept beneath the carpet any longer now. How long will Centre keep sabotaging and keep deferring the most compelling and most legitimate demand for a High Court Bench in West UP on one pretext or the other? Centre’s decision to deprive West UP from having even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench is bereft of any logic and so the blame lies squarely on shoulders of Centre. For the exclusive benefit and indulgence of my esteemed readers, let me now lay bare that Uttar Pradesh falls in how many regions or economic divisions and districts included in them. They are as follows:-
Western Division (Paschimanchal – 30 districts) – Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Rampur, Budaun, Mathura, Etah, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Firozabad, Agra, Mainpuri, Baghpat, Meerut, Amroha, Moradabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Hathras, Aligarh, Kannauj, Farrukhabad, Auraiya, Etawah, Kasganj, Hapur, Sambhal and Shamli.
Central Division (Madhyanchal – 10 districts) – Lakhimpur Kheri, Hardoi, Sitapur, Barabanki, Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar and Fatehpur.
Bundelkhand Division (7 districts) – Mahoba, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot, Banda, Jalaun, Jhansi and Lalitpur.
Eastern Division (Purvanchal – 28 districts) – Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Mau, Azamgarh, Ballia, Bhadohi, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Balrampur, Gonda, Chandauli, Shravasti, Bahraich, Sant Kabir Nagar, Sultanpur, Ghazipur, Pratapgarh and Amethi.
(Source: Sam Samayik Ghatna Chakra Uttar Pradesh At A Glance 2026 on page 81 published from Allahabad)
Of course, what is going on in India since last about 80 years in distribution of High Courts and High Court Benches and High Court Circuit Benches in different States and different regions does not represent by any reckoning a true democratic system rather it symbolizes horrendous dictatorship of the highest order worst than what even Hitler did without being held accountable in any manner as we saw when hilly areas of undivided UP for whom Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge appointed by Centre itself had recommended two High Court Circuit Benches in Dehradun and Nainital in early 1980s yet not one created and when people agitated with many sacrificing their invaluable lives then the same Centre bestowed not just separate Statehood itself but separate High Court and separate Capital also and no Punjab and Haryana formula of same High Court and same Capital! Does Centre want this to happen in West UP also as Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended permanent seat of High Court Bench in West UP yet not even a single High Court Circuit Bench created even though on its recommendations High Court Benches were created in other States like Maharashtra at Aurangabad which already had multiple High Court Benches? Why Supreme Court kept a deafening silence on non implementation of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission report in UP for which maximum three High Court Benches were recommended yet not even a single created while it was implemented promptly in Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches and so also in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu? Even Mayawati herself as Chief Minister had recommended creation of West UP as separate State to be named “Harit Pradesh” just like DR BR Ambedkar and many other Chief Minister like Sampoornanand way back in 1955 had recommended for High Court Bench in Meerut which is all on record but Centre acted as the biggest stumbling block!
Why is Centre so hell bent in denying West UP even a single Bench not even a Circuit Bench is absolutely just most baffling? Why Opposition also which keeps crying hoarse over S.I.R. concerned with elections maintain a stoic deafening silence mostly on creation of a High Court Bench in West UP? It is as clear as broad daylight that West UP has maximum districts – 30, owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court and contributes maximum to State’s economy with more than 10 crore people yet the people residing in West UP have been most unfairly deprived from having even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench! The point being made here is that it is Centre which most unscrupulously has been acting as the biggest stumbling block for creation of High Court Bench in West UP on one pretext or the other which has only served to portray it in poor light. It is also not hidden from anyone that it is Centre which is the biggest litigator in our nation!
Plainly speaking, only time will tell when the endless wait for even a single High Court Bench in West UP ever end? Former Attorney General of India – Late Soli J Sorabjee had in his capacity as Attorney General way back in 2001 had said that, “Centre is empowered to create a High Court Bench in West UP without any recommendation from the Chief Justice or Chief Minister or anyone else in this regard.” Former President of Supreme Court Bar Association MN Krishnamani had very categorically stated that, “Only by the creation of a Bench of High Court in West UP will the people be able to secure justice.”
One is completely intrigued to see how Centre gave separate statehood itself with separate High Court at Hyderabad to Telangana with just 3.5 crore people in June 2014 and so also earlier also to many States like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh among others whose population is more than 6 or 7 crore less than West UP at 10 or 11 crore and still have separate High Court and West UP has not even a single Bench not even a Circuit Bench! This is nothing but biggest national disgrace which even Supreme Court has utterly failed to take suo motu cognizance of! Karnataka with just 6 crore people were given two High Court Benches for just 4 and 8 districts at Dharwad and Gulbarga in 2008 itself and now Bench recommended for Mangaluru by State Government for just 3 districts and Karnataka High Court has set up as high powered Committee also recently on September 29 to probe where all Benches can be set up but for West UP with more than 10 or 11 crore people we see no similar action by Allahabad High Court which is most pathetic to see!
Going by Centre’s niggardly approach, it is not only hard but also virtually impossible to decipher when Centre will swing into action and address this long lingering issue of High Court Bench in West UP at the earliest. Centre has put itself in a most questionable position by not taking any initiative worth its salt to address this needlessly long lingering issue which is an “open and shut” case! It is definitely most appalling and most ashaming to note that since last more than 80 years of independence, we have seen that the buck of decision making on creation of a High Court Bench in West UP with more than 10 or 11 crore people and 30 districts has sought to be constantly shifted from one goalpost to another!
Even former eminent Supreme Court Judge – Justice (Retd) Markandey Katju who has been Chief Justice of different High Courts including Allahabad High Court has fully reiterated his open support to the most legitimate demand for a High Court Bench in West UP which is most refreshing to note! It has definitely warmed the innermost cockles of my heart and mind to read that one of the most eminent former Supreme Court Judge Hon’ble Mr Justice Markandey Katju who has himself practiced in Allahabad High Court from 1970 to 1991 with specialization in Taxation, Labour Laws and Writ Petition and is one of the most distinguished jurists that India has ever produced known all across the globe and was also appointed Acting Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court in August 2004 and so also was Chief Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004 and also of Delhi High Court in October 2005 has in a eye-opener blog titled: “The Demand For A Western Bench Of Allahabad HC Is Justified” published on September 24, 2025 in website named “Medium” written most elegantly that, “While I do not approve of blocking roads, I believe that the demand for a bench of the Allahabad High Court in western Uttar Pradesh is fully justified. The reason is simple: litigants of western UP face a huge financial and logistical burden when they are compelled to travel all the way to Allahabad, which is in eastern UP. The Justice Jaswant Singh Committee, after studying the matter in great detail, came to the same conclusion. There are several benches of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the Bombay High Court. Similarly, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, which was created in July 2004 when I was Chief Justice of that court, was established for the very same reason: litigants in southern Tamil Nadu found it prohibitively expensive and inconvenient to travel to Chennai in the north. On exactly the same logic, there is no reason why western UP should be denied a bench of the Allahabad High Court.” Even the incumbent CJI Hon’ble Mr Surya Kant has himself conceded on more than one occasion even when he was not CJI that the demand for High Court Bench in West UP is most deserving and most compelling! But when will it translate into reality? This is the moot question!
Let’s face it: Centre and State’s niggardly actions in this regard just does not inspire any confidence at all and this cannot continue in perpetuity! On discrimination of distribution of High Court Benches in different States and different regions, the less said the better because Centre has been completely most shameless in this context to resort to open partiality as we can see for ourselves and States like lawless Bihar has not even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench just like Orissa and West UP among others without any valid reason! The topmost question that stares us in our face is: What’s going on in this country? It is utterly disgusting indeed to watch all this without facing any intervention from Allahabad High Court or even from Supreme Court since 80 years!
Most bone chillingly, even the Supreme Court in last 80 years of independence has never dared to take suo motu cognizance of it and even the press which is considered the fourth pillar of Indian democracy including newspapers and news channels also maintains a conspicuous inexplicable deafening silence on it and hardly ever accords any prime coverage to it! The most troubling question that crops up here is: Why is Centre just not willing and ready to address it? Centre must stop dishing lame excuses and address it like it did last year in Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra for just 6 districts and now in Ladakh for just 7 districts which till March 2026 had just 2 districts!
At the crux of the problem is most stubborn approach of Centre and State Government in refusing to relent and acknowledge the clear writing on the wall! Why Centre has no empathy with humongous problems faced by litigants of West UP due to no Bench here? One cannot conjecture correct cause that why Centre crops up flimsy and fake excuses to deny West UP even a single Bench?
The truth of the matter is: Centre has most unabashedly perpetrated such merciless, most absurd discrimination which I most strongly feel is the biggest national disgrace! Many decades ago, UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon while in office had slammed UP as “rape and crime capital” of India still why UP has just one High Court Bench so close to Allahabad High Court and nowhere else! It must be stated unhesitatingly that Centre has been most biased in discriminating when it comes to big States like UP and Rajasthan which have just one and so also other big States like Orissa and Bihar which have none!
It must be asked: Why 230th Report of Law Commission of India which recommended creation of High Court Benches in different States not implemented even after 17 years of its recommendation? Why Apex Court has never held Centre accountable for it? Why national news channels never debate on it? Why most of national newspapers fight completely shy to publish any editorial on this hot-button issue which will portray Centre in poor spotlight as it is primarily culpable for this most atrocious discrimination perpetrated with impunity by not doing anything worthwhile to end it or even contain it? Why blind appeasement of Centre on this count by national news channels and prominent newspapers by never highlighting it adequately and effectively?
It sounds inconceivable but is true that the most populated State of India that is Uttar Pradesh which is also one of the largest State of India with maximum number of pending cases among all the States has just one High Court Bench and even when undivided had just one High Court Bench at Lucknow so close to Allahabad High Court created 78 years ago and West UP which has maximum districts among all the regions of Uttar Pradesh – 30 which also owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court more than 63 percent as acknowledged by Rajya Sabha MP Laxmi Kant Vajpayee in January 2026 while demanding two High Court Benches in West UP at Meerut and Agra with more than 10 or 11 crore people two times this year itself yet Centre does not listen to even their own MPs and gives its stamp of approval for High Court Bench in Ladakh which till March 2026 had just two districts with just 3 lakh people and districts increased to 7 in April 2026 which started functioning from September 5, 2026 just like fifth High Court Bench created in Maharashtra at Kolhapur for just 6 districts which started functioning from August 18, 2025 then why West UP with 30 districts have not even a single Bench with more than 10 or 11 crore people? Maharashtra has just 11 crore people and pending cases far less than even West UP still has High Court and five High Court Benches and yet West UP has not even a Circuit Bench which exposes the dark underbelly of how most rampant discrimination is rampant even in judiciary right under the nose of the Apex Court in distribution of High Court Benches in different regions in same State and even in different States without any logical reason to justify the same!
It merits absolutely just no reiteration that speedy and affordable justice at doorsteps is the cornerstone of democratic system which definitely cannot be allowed to be strangulated by depriving litigants of West UP from having even a single Bench! It is time for Apex Court to take note of the big picture and act decisively to ensure that a High Court Bench is created in West UP at the earliest and the huge sufferings – physical, mental and financial faced by the litigants of West UP is not prolonged any longer now! No doubt, the earlier this is done, the better it shall be!
No doubt, it must be gracefully acknowledged that UP indubitably deserves maximum High Court Benches as Allahabad High Court is biggest High Court in world with maximum number of pending cases but most unfortunately it has not even multiple High Court Benches since last 80 years of independence and has most starkly just one High Court Bench which is undoubtedly the biggest national disgrace just like lawless Bihar not having even a single Circuit Bench and Maharashtra which has more than half less population than UP and less pending cases than even West UP what to talk about UP and still has maximum five High Court Benches with latest created at Kolhapur for just 6 districts! How can any person in his/her right senses ever try to justify it most shamelessly on one pretext or the other when five elite States – Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and Karnataka with less pending cases than even West UP and far less population than even West UP have multiple High Court Benches? Karnataka High Court has still recently set up a high powered Committee to look for setting up of more High Court Benches on September 29, 2026 which is all on record! PM Narendra Modi has congratulated recently that Indian economy is growing at 7.8 percent still why the hell UP has been deprived from having even a single Bench after the one created long ago in July 1948 at Lucknow when our economic condition was in doldrums and that’s all? This is terrible rather most atrocious which has to be most strongly condemned!
Suffice it to say: There is no prima facie reason why Supreme Court should even now after 80 years of independence not take suo motu cognizance of this and order Centre to create not just one but multiple High Court Benches in West UP as demanded by some of own most prominent leaders of Centre not only now but even in past like former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Parliament itself! Of course, if Apex Court intervenes and take suo motu cognizance, this will end the strikes also by lawyers of West UP as we saw for 6 months in 2001 and so also in 2014-15 apart from strike every Saturday since May 1981 till date and many times even on Wednesday as we see now only and only for creation of High Court Bench in West UP! It indubitably brooks no more delay any longer now!
All told, if UP CM Yogi Adityananth wants to avoid the most ugly embarrassment of being directed by the Apex Court itself to create a High Court Bench in any of the suitable district of West UP then he must immediately take action and urge cooperation from the Centre also in this regard and it is BJP which is in power in Centre of which UP CM is an integral part of! It will be the best tribute to PM Narendra Damodardas Modi if a High Court Bench is created and named in his name as he always stands for justice and has simplified so many rules also for common person then why no initiative in this regard? Why can’t UP CM boldly take an initiative in this regard also so that “speedy and affordable justice at doorsteps” is translated into reality and not mere empty slogans? The ball is in court of UP CM!
Sanjeev Sirohi,