I am completely shell shocked and shake my head in utter disbelief to see that how can it happen that in a democratic country like India where Eastern UP which already had a High Court at Allahabad and as if this was not enough we saw how less than a year after independence on July 1, 1948, Centre approved a High Court Bench also at Lucknow known famously as “Nawab City” where it was just not needed at all as it is very close to Allahabad and nowhere else which is definitely most shocking. If Lucknow is capital then so also Bhopal is capital which has neither High Court nor Bench and similarly Dispur is capital of Assam but has neither High Court nor Bench and so also is the case in many other States. Make no mistake: There is a clear dereliction of Centre in doing its bit to set up High Court Benches in the most needy regions of Uttar Pradesh like West UP, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal in last more than 77 years which Centre definitely cannot exonerate itself by washing its hands off and blaming someone else for not doing it!
By the way, we all saw how most recently, PM Narendra Modi called for 10 pledges on Vijayadasami – 1. Save water, 2. Push digital transactions, 3. Keep your town clean, 4. Be vocal for local, 5. Do quality work, and make quality products, 6. First tour the country, then go abroad, 7. Promote natural farming, 8. Make millets part of diet, 10. Uplift at least 1 poor family.
Okay, I agree but why can’t Centre add one more pledge and that is – Providing justice at doorsteps by approving more High Court Benches in most needy regions like in UP for West UP, Purvanchal and Bundelkhand? Centre must spare a food of thought for this also. Even the 230th Report of Law Commission of India more than 14 years back headed by former Supreme Court Judge – Dr AR Lakshmanan had called for setting up of more High Court Benches in States but Centre has maintained a deafening silence on it which cannot be ever justified under any circumstances! I am anguished beyond words to see that how all PM have acted like copycats of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in ensuring that not a single High Court Bench is set up at any place other than in Lucknow which is most condemnable and most shocking!
One really wonders time and again as to why Centre has so fiercely opposed even a single more High Court Bench in last 77 years in any nook and corner of Uttar Pradesh at any city other than Lucknow known famously as Nawab City where it was just not needed at all as it is so close to Allahabad itself where High Court is located and where it was created way back in 1948 itself less than a year after independence in July! That’s all! After that we see no High Court Bench was created in last 77 years.
It must be asked: Does Centre want a difference of at least 100 years between the Bench in Lucknow in Eastern UP and a Bench at any place in Western UP whose population is alone more than 10 crore and more than half of the pending cases are from West UP? Is Centre waiting for 2048 to create a Bench in West UP? Can it be justified from any angle that the litigants of 30 districts of West UP have been attached not even till Lucknow which falls more than 230 km earlier but right uptill Allahabad to seek justice? Can on earth there be anything more shameful than this?
In no way can Centre wash away the unpalatable truth which is so demoralizing, disgusting, degrading and disastrous that Uttar Pradesh which has maximum population among all the States more than 25 crores which is more than the population of 16 small States put together and so also maximum pending cases more than 10 lakhs in High Courts and about one crore cases in lower courts and here too more than half of the pending cases are from West UP and still has just one Bench only and both High Court and a single Bench are in Eastern UP alone and that too just at a distance of about 230 km only even though in 1981 it was agreed that the distance between High Court and bench should not be less than 300 km! It is high time and Centre must move beyond the myopic view that only Eastern UP alone is fit for both High Court and Bench and not any other region which according to Centre are legally worthless just not fit to be given a Bench! Why is Centre most disinterested on such a sensitive issue which directly impacts population of more than 10 crore people of West UP?
It is high time and Centre must move beyond the myopic view that only Eastern UP alone is fit for both High Court and Bench and not any other region which really baffles me most! Why so much of opacity in creation of High Court Benches? Why no transparency? That is the nub of the problem!
It merits no reiteration that Centre must take a clear stand on it and not indulge in frequent flip-flop over it as we have been seeing since last more than 77 years! Viewed in this light, it can be easily surmised that Centre has been most deadly biased in favouring only one particular region in regard to setting up of a Bench which is most unfortunate and must be strongly and roundly condemned! I have just no inkling as to why Centre has been so deadly biased on this without any logic in this blatant, brazen and blind discrimination against West UP and other regions as compared to Eastern UP and so also other States.
The billion dollar question is: Why we see that a peaceful State like Maharashtra which tops in the State list of Justice Index Ranking has maximum High Court Benches with its Benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Panaji functioning since May 1, 1960, June 27, 1984 and October 30, 1982 respectively and Uttar Pradesh just one and West UP which owes for more than half of the total number of pending cases has none? Why even Madhya Pradesh has multiple High Court Benches at Gwalior and Indore functioning since 1956 but in UP with 2024 about to start not a single High Court Bench created in last 75 years? To top it all, the litigants of West UP have to travel whole night and half day all the way not even till Lucknow but right till Allahabad to seek justice! If this is not making an open mockery of the concept of equality as enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution then what else is?
Why our Judges never hold Centre accountable for it? Why Centre has always given shallow promises only but done nothing concrete to change the ground reality like setting up of more High Court Benches in needy regions? This despite the irrefutable fact that it is West UP which contributes more than 75% of total revenue of UP and so also owes for more than half of the total pending cases of UP!
Needless to say, the setting up both High Court at Allahabad and a single High Court Bench at Lucknow both in Eastern UP only for such a big State like UP with maximum population among all the States in India with maximum pending cases with Western UP alone accounting for more than half of the total pending cases of UP and contributing for more than 75% of State revenue and still being deprived of even a single High Court Bench just like in other regions like Bundelkhand and Purvanchal is certainly totally antithetical to the modern egalitarian virtues. It must be asked: Why is Centre non-committal towards the annihilation of region based discrimination as we see in case of setting up of more Benches in UP where only one Bench created in 1948! This is akin to the perpetuation of the oppressive caste system which definitely cannot be ever justified under any circumstances! Why the more than 10 crore people of West UP have been left remediless by denying even a single High Court Bench?
What jitters my peace of mind most is: Centre fully aware of the ground reality has done just nothing to address it. The President of Central Action Committee – Mr KP Sharma who represents the lawyers of 22 districts of West UP under one banner was at pains to point out that, “It’s been over 70 years since we have been urging for a Bench of the High Court here in Meerut. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had assured us that our demands would be fulfilled but nothing moved in this direction. Almost 52% of pending cases in Allahabad HC involve West UP residents. We have District and Sessions Courts but can’t file writs as only the High Court or the Supreme Court has the power to accept them. The Allahabad High Court is over 500 km away from most of the districts of West UP. The Central Government has to assure us; otherwise, the entire community in West UP will boycott the 2024 general election.”
What I find most troubling is that how Centre partially implemented Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge in the most discriminatory manner by denying undivided UP even a single High Court Bench more even though it recommended 3 Benches at Nainital, Dehradun and Agra! Most shockingly, States like Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji was given one more at Aurangabad and so also for West Bengal at Jalpaiguri which already had a Bench at Port Blair for just 2 lakh people! Similarly we saw Centre in 2008 created 2 more High Court Bench for Karnataka with just 6 crore population at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts but for 30 districts of West UP with a population of more than 10 crore not a single Bench approved! This is the real rub! When Centre can display so much of magnanimity for so many States like in Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka then why so miserly for Bihar which has no Bench and UP where again West UP has no Bench? How strange that even Lahore in Pakistan is just 458 km from Meerut and Allahabad is 657 km away from Meerut and Saharanpur is more than 750 km away from Allahabad and still no Bench is set up here in any of the districts of West UP!
Sanjeev Sirohi
