Why is Centre so adamant that Uttar Pradesh which tops among all the States in India in having the maximum number of pending cases more than 10 lakhs in High Court and nearly a crore in lower courts should have minimum number of High Court Benches? Why is Centre so adamant that West UP which owes for more than half of the total number of pending cases of the whole of Uttar Pradesh should have not even a single High Court Bench? Why is Centre so adamant that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru took the most extraordinary and best decision on earth to create just one High Court Bench only at Lucknow known famously as Nawab City on July 1, 1948 which means more than 75 years ago and nowhere else in whole of Uttar Pradesh which is among the largest States of India?
It must be asked: Why is Centre so adamant that while overhaul of criminal code is imperative and the colonial mindset has to be abandoned but simultaneously is dead determined that not a single city in whole of Uttar Pradesh other than the “Nawab City” is fit to have even a single High Court Bench? Did Lucknow really deserved a Bench when it is so close to Allahabad where High Court itself is located? The point really is this: Why one flimsy excuse or other is invented to deny West UP and other needy regions of UP like Bundelkhand, Purvanchal even a single High Court Bench?
The moot question is: Why Centre can demonstrate the will power to transfer Nainital High Court from Nainital to Haldwani and Guwahati High Court to some other place but when it comes to Uttar Pradesh, most strangely, it is neither prepared to shift Allahabad High Court to some other place or Lucknow High Court Bench to some other place as the minimum distance as per the criteria set in 1981 between High Court and Bench should not be less than 300 km and distance between Allahabad and Lucknow is just about 200 km or at least create a new High Court Bench in any other needy place in whole of Uttar Pradesh as recommended by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge who recommended three High Court Benches for undivided UP yet not one created and Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches was given one more at Aurangabad in 1985? Why Centre so brazenly bulldozes any attempt to create even a single High Court Bench other than at Lucknow where it should never have been created at the first place as it is so close to Allahabad? If Lucknow is capital then so is Bhopal but it has neither High Court nor Bench and same is the case with Bhubaneshwar, Thiruvananthapuram, Raipur, Dehradun Dispur etc!
I am certainly not talking off the hat when I say that it is ‘shockingly bizarre’ that UP has maximum pending cases among all States that is more than 10 lakhs in High Courts and about a crore in lower courts and has maximum population which is more than 16 small States put together and still has just one High Court Bench only so close to Allahabad High Court at Lucknow only and nowhere else. This despite the irrefutable fact that it is Western UP which owes for more than half of the total pending cases of Uttar Pradesh but still has not even a single High Court Bench even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by a former Supreme Court Judge had recommended a High Court Bench for West UP as it owes for more than half of the total pending cases of UP as acknowledged also by the Commission and total three High Court Benches for undivided Uttar Pradesh in 1980s were recommended yet not one created even though on its recommendations High Court Bench created at Aurangabad in Maharashtra in 1985 which already had multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji and so also at Jalpaiguri in West Bengal which already had a Bench at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobarfor just 3 lakh people and so also at Madurai in Tamil Nadu. This is exactly that I find most startling! The age old question that still looms large is: Why is Centre so adamant on not creating a High Court Bench in West UP and so also in Bihar and is most happy that more and more international airports are created here which will only serve to benefit the “richest of the rich” and not the “poorest of the poor”?
It must be mentioned that on August 14, 2023 the lawyers of whole of UP will observe as “Protest Day” and will work with black band on their hands as not just women and children but even the lawyers themselves are getting killed in increasingly large numbers all across UP at one point of time or the other! An advocate named Azad Ahmed killed recently in Sultanpur and so also an advocate named Abdul Mugish shot dead in broad daylight in crowded place in Aligarh and a woman lawyer in Meerut was shot dead right outside her house by fearless criminals some time back! Why the hell is it that Maharashtra which tops among all the States in Justice Index Ranking List and so also Karnataka which gives tough fight to it for first place have multiple High Court Benches and why Uttar Pradesh slammed by former UN Secretary Ban ki Moon as the “rape and crime capital of India” has only one and Bihar slammed by many Union Cabinet Ministers as “lawless” has not even a single High Court Bench? How long will Centre keep mercilessly blaming the Chief Justice or Chief Minister or Governor of the State for not creating more High Court Benches in these most needy States like UP, Bihar and Rajasthan which has largest area and still has just one Bench at Jaipur?
It is palpably clear even to a layman that there is more to it than meets the eye. The most egregious attack on Article 14 of the Constitution is denial of even a single High Court Bench to whole of West UP which comprises of 30 districts and has population of more than 10 crores which means more population than most of the States in India who have their own High Court! The former Chief Minister of Mayawati recommended that West UP in 1995 to be created as a separate State to be named “Harit Pradesh” and so also Bundelkhand but Centre is not ready to create even a single High Court Bench which is definitely most frustrating to see!
To top it all, it is most heart wrenching to see that the litigants of West UP are made to travel like donkeys and slaves all the way not even till Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad which is more than 230 km far away from Lucknow which means whole night and half day from most of the districts to seek justice as Centre did not implement the landmark recommendations to create 3 High Court Benches in undivided UP in mid 1980s and most shamelessly approved one Bench as recommended for Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji and so also for West Bengal at Jalpaiguri which already had a Bench at Port Blair for just 3 lakh people of Andaman and Nicobar islands! Centre’s hypocrisy on this is hard to miss from 1947 to 2023!
For the sake of argument, let us accept that Maharashtra, Karnataka, Assam, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh needs multiple High Court Benches but how can we ever afford to gloss over the irrefutable fact that UP has maximum number of pending cases among all the States in India and still has just one Bench only and that too at Lucknow where it was just not required. Worst of all, the litigants of West UP attached not with Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad which is more than 230 km away and this is in simple terms the peak point of absurdity of the highest order! Still Centre refuses to do anything on this which cannot be ever condoned!
It must be asked: Why has Centre always buried itself in Pandit Nehru’s mindset that only Lucknow known famously as “Nawab City” is alone fit in whole of UP for a High Court Bench created by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru more than 75 years ago in 1948 and no other place is fit for it as they are presumed to be absolutely legally worthless cities just not fit to be given even a single High Court Bench under any circumstances? Why no party in Centre has dared to take any initiative in this direction even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission appointed by Centre itself also recommended for three High Court Benches for UP which is maximum and yet not one created? It is well nigh impossible for any CJI to ignore the chilling ground reality which clearly demonstrates that it is lawless Bihar, West UP and other regions of UP like Bundelkhand and Purvanchal which needs High Court Bench as there is not even single in any of these regions and it is Eastern UP alone which has both High Court and a single Bench so close to each other which is the most blatant, blind and brazen discrimination and an open mockery is made of Article 14 of Constitution which promises right to equality as a fundamental right reduced to only in paper and not in practice! The 230th Report of the Law Commission of India which so strongly recommended to create more High Court Benches in all States is still gaining dust in last 14 years and Centre is only interested in showing “tearing hurry” to implement the recommendations of the Law Commission of India on uniform civil code which has still not yet been submitted! This is truly the most unfortunate part!
Sanjeev Sirohi