At the outset, it must be stated rather disconcertingly that it is India's misfortune that UP which has the maximum population more than 23 crore as Yogi Adityanath who is UP CM keeps proudly declaring time and again which is more than the population of may countries including Pakistan whose population is 22 crore, has maximum villages more than one lakh whereas in other states the number of villages don't exceed 5000 or 6000 at the most, has maximum pending cases about 10 lakh cases as per official figures whereas other states like Karnataka which has 3 high court benches, Maharashtra which has 4 high court benches, Assam which has 4 high court benches, etc even though they have less than 1 lakh pending cases, UP has maximum districts 75 whereas other states have just about 25 or 30 on an average, UP has maximum MPs, maximum MLAs, maximum Mayors, maximum towns, maximum pending cases in lower courts more than 60,000 lakh pending cases whereas other states have comparatively much lesser figures, UP has given maximum PM to India including the incumbent Narendra Modi who is MP from Varanasi, maximum poverty, maximum crime, maximum riots, maximum killings, maximum rape, assault and other crimes against women, etc and is one of the biggest states of India yet has just one high court bench created way back in 1948 on July 1 at Lucknow which is just about 200 km away from Allahabad where the high court itself is located! Seventy years have lapsed but till now in April 2018 no bench has been created in any other part of UP even though the former UN Secretary General Ban ki moon had slammed UP as the "rape and crime capital of India"! All true Indians must hang their head in shame at this despicable act! All Benches in India must be disbanded if West UP and UP cannot have benches!

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!

It must be asked: What was the need for a high court bench in Lucknow? Why even then West UP was not attached with Lucknow and most stupidly attached with Allahabad and same was the case with hilly areas which now form a separate state named Uttarakhand since 2000? Why even Justice Jaswant Singh Commission's recommendations for 3 benches for undivided UP was stupidly, shamelessly and senselessly rejected by Centre while promptly implementing the recommendations to create benches in other state like West Bengal at Jalpaiguri, Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Aurangabad in Maharashtra? Why even the incumbent government in Centre allowed one more high court bench in Maharashtra at Kolhapur for just 6 districts which already had 3 benches at Aurangabad, Nagpur and Panaji?

Lamentably, even small states like Sikkim, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, etc with just about 6 lakh population, 29 lakh , 36 lakh, 27 lakh have high courts but West UP with more than 9 crore population has not even a single bench of high court! Even Andaman and Nicobar islands with just 3 lakh population has bench but not West UP! West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases of total pending cases of UP which can be independently verified and which owes for maximum riots, killings, rapes, gang rapes etc still it has not a single bench! Most shocking!

It also must be asked: Why is it conveniently ignored that the area of Lucknow and adjoining districts is just about 62,000 kilometers but of West UP is about 98,000 kilometers which is more than even Bihar which has 94,000 square kilometers? Why the people of Lucknow can't travel to Allahabad which is so near just two hours journey but the people of West UP and Uttarakhand when it was part of UP were expected stupidly to travel thousands of kilometers all the way to Allahabad to attend court hearings? Why was it not appreciated that it was stupidity of the highest order to not listen to the laudable recommendation of the then UP CM Sampoornanand who way back in 1955 had very rightly recommended the creation of a high court bench in Meerut but to listen to a stupid adviser who advised the creation of just a single high court bench so close to Allahabad at Lucknow and that too not in 2021 but way back 73 years ago in 1948 in Lucknow?

What hurts me most to learn is that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Jaswant Singh and appointed in late 1970s by former PM late Mrs Indira Gandhi had categorically recommended 3 high court benches for UP at Dehradun, Nainital and Agra but not one bench was created in any of these 3 places even though benches were created on its recommendations at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Madurai in Tamil Nadu! Why is UP especially West UP and the hilly areas of UP which now form part of Uttarakhand were not allotted high court benches even though the people of the hilly areas had to travel more than thousands of kilometers all the way to Allahabad to get justice which compelled them to wage agitation for a separate state and in 2000 it was created as a separate state and now it has high court at Nainital! If Centre had created 2 benches at Dehradun and Nainital, Uttarakhand would never have separated from UP as the people would have been happy that they are getting justice at doorsteps!

Now coming to West UP which has more than 9 crore population which is more than the population of all states except Bihar and Maharashtra and UP of which it is itself a part and here too the area of West UP with 98,000 square kilometers is more than that of Bihar with 94,000 square kilometers still it has no high court bench! The people are compelled to travel more than 700 to 800 kilometers all the way to Allahabad as there is no high court bench in any of the 26 districts of West UP! In other words, the litigants of West UP have to travel whole night without reservation many times when they can't get reservation to attend court hearings at Allahabad and bear all sorts of inconveniences in finding a suitable room to stay for few days!

If a high court bench was there in any of the 26 districts of West UP they would have been saved from all these inconveniences and their precious money would also have been saved from being wasted! Those lawyers of Allahabad who argue that now there is facility of plane when anyone can travel anywhere and reach in no time must understand that the majority of litigants are not so rich that they can spend so much of money in travelling only and then spend much more in hiring good lawyers etc! It is for their benefit that the lawyers of West UP are agitating for a high court bench in West UP!

What was the need for a high court bench in Lucknow which is so near to Allahabad that it can be reached in just 2 hours as it is just about 200 km away? If Lucknow is capital then so is Bhopal which is capital of Madhya Pradesh, Bhubaneshwar which is capital of Odisha, Thiruvananthapuram which is capital of Kerala, Dehradun which is capital of Uttarakhand, Dispur which is capital of Assam, Raipur which is capital of Chhattisgarh etc but all these places have neither high court nor bench! Lawyers of West UP have never objected to a bench in Lucknow but have only legitimately demanded that when a bench can exist so close to Allahabad then why can't it exist so far away in any of the 26 districts of West UP?

This is the main reason why the lawyers of West UP have been regularly striking every Saturday since May 1981 and now May 2021 is fast approaching but strikes are still continuing, went on 6 months strike from July to December in 2001, went on strike for 3 to 4 months in 2014-15, on one month strike in 2010 apart from many other strikes in many other years! Just recently the lawyers of West UP were on strike for several days in end of February till 6 March 2021 as a senior and eminent lawyer named Omkar Singh Tomar had committed suicide under suspicious circumstances and those whose name figured including a prominent BJP leader were not being arrested by the police! Why when Dr Sampoornanand who was UP CM in 1955 had recommended a high court bench in Meerut but it was refused by Centre? Why many other UP CMs also recommended for the same including Mayawati who even recommended statehood for West UP but still not even a bench was approved?

Why in 2018 for UP the recommendation made by Law Commission of India in its 4th report in 1955 being adhered to which opposed that high courts should sit at benches in different parts of the states even though in other states like Karnataka 2 more benches were created at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts apart from the one already at Hubli and in Maharashtra also which already had benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad, Panaji and now at Kolhapur for just 6 districts but for 26 districts of West UP just no bench approved even though the Law Commission of India in its 230th report recommended creation of more high court benches but UP along with other big states like Rajasthan, Odisha and Bihar were left in the cold?

It is most shocking to learn that the high court and benches of 8 states in India are closer to West UP as compared to Allahabad. As for instance Delhi High Court is just 70 km from Meerut in West UP, Gwalior bench in MP is just about 368 km, Chandigarh high court is just 239 km, Shimla high court is just 336 km, Jaipur bench of Rajasthan high court is just 333 km, Nainital high court is just 249 km and worst of all even Lahore high court in Pakistan is just 500 km whereas Allahabad is about 705 km from Meerut even though the distance of other districts like Saharanpur to Allahabad is much more!

None other than former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself as Opposition leader way back on 21 July in 1986 had raised the demand for a high court bench in West UP along with MP Ashwani Kumar in Rajya Sabha! Legal giants like Ram Jethmalani, Soli J Sorabjee, Kapil Sibal etc have time and again reiterated the dire need for a bench in West UP! Soli J Sorabjee had clearly stated while he was Attorney General in 2001 that, "Centre can create a high court bench in West UP without any recommendation from the State Government or Chief Justice." It was also pointed out that for 3 states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir only Centre itself can give a bench of high court straightaway!

As per the Section 51 of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, the Centre can create a high court bench in any of these 3 states mentioned above directly by bringing it up in Parliament. Centre does not need any recommendation from State Government or the Chief Justice as has been very wrongly propagated for many decades! What a national disgrace that these very 3 states – Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar keep on coming the national headlines for all the wrong reasons as crime incidents keep multiplying very rapidly! Bihar is famous as a lawless state yet Centre has not created even a single high court bench here ever since Ranchi bench separated after Jharkhand became a state in 2000 and it became a high court and same is the case with UP and Jammu and Kashmir!

None other than UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed his deepest anger at the brutal gangrape and murder of a 8 year old girl in Kathua in Jammu just recently and hoped that the guilty would be punished swiftly! This is a major international embarrassment for India! Jammu and Kashmir keeps braving repeated terror attacks and crime is high yet Centre does not want to create a bench here anywhere other than at Jammu! Similarly Bihar is another lawless state where mass murders is a routine affair yet it has no bench!

Now coming to UP, it is the worst of all states! Even as I am writing this, news is pouring in that an 18 year old Dalit girl in Rajabpur region of Amroha district was allegedly pulled into sugarcane field by Aman and his minor cousin. Similarly after being forced to reach a compromise by accused's family, a 22 year old gang rape survivor ended her life in a village in UP's Sambhal district! Also, a father of a woman in UP's Hathras district in West UP was killed by the accused Gaurav Sharma who had molested his daughter in 2018 after coming out on bail!

Why criminals have no fear of law in UP and especially in West UP? It is because criminals know that UP is overburdened with so many pending cases as it tops the States list of maximum pending cases and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases of UP and Centre is doing just nothing to address it by creating more high court benches even though it readily creates more high court benches for small states like Karnataka at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts even though population of Karnataka is just 6 crore and that of West UP alone is more than 9 crore still it has not even a High Court Bench leave alone having High Court which ideally it should have as Mayawati wanted also by creating it as a separate state but Centre does not want to give it even a Bench and as a consequence criminals gain the most as the maximum cases are from West UP and it takes a long time for cases to get decided in time. This alone explains why criminals feel that they can easily get away with impunity as it will take many decades for case to be decided even in lower courts! Most hurting!

As if this is not enough, an 18 year old girl is burnt alive in Unnao from where a BJP MLA which is in power in UP had been arrested on gang rape charges just recently whose father was instead earlier arrested and beaten in police station where he later succumbed to his injuries which is most shocking! Rapes and gangrapes and burning of girls and women are becoming the norm in UP which is so shocking but still not one bench is being created any where in UP! In 2018 recently even a blind girl was not spared in Ghaziabad and 10 days after her father died she was raped and landlord asked her to approach police but before that evict house! Similarly a 100 year old lady was raped in Meerut where she died later about an year back!

The list of such hapless girls and women undergoing unending woes and interminable sufferings is endless yet we see Centre has not allowed a single bench not just in West UP but any where in any part of UP even though it has approved one more bench at Kolhapur in Maharashtra for just 6 districts which already had 3 benches and which tops in Justice Index List released recently! But not a single Bench created since 1948 when one was created at Lucknow for which there was just no need as Lucknow was so close to Allahabad!

None other than UP former Chief Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale in his capacity as Chief Justice of UP some years back while condemning the law and order situation in UP where he says that law and order situation in the state has been destroyed while proudly hailing his home state Maharashtra where he says "law and order situation in Maharashtra is so good that women can go out alone anywhere without any fear even in night hours" and this I have seen myself as I did LLB from Pune where women and girls never felt afraid to even give lift to anyone at night as the crime incidents are very less yet see the unpalatable irony that Maharashtra now has 4 benches with one more being approved at Kolhapur for just 6 districts due to which lawyers of West UP had even gone on strike when it was announced but UP has just one and that too very near to Allahabad and not anywhere else like in Bundelkhand region in Jhansi or in Gorakhpur or in Meerut or in Agra or at any other place! Why our lawmakers most shamelessly, senselessly and stupidly not do anything on this score?

What is the point in celebrating Womans Day when woman are most unsafe in UP and especially in West UP where they are not safe even on highways as was acknowledged by former UP Chief Justice DB Bhosale?

It is a matter of national shame, national disgrace and national humiliation that a man named Vishnu Tiwari had to suffer without committing any offence 20 years of incarceration in connection with a false rape case filed against him by a woman owing to an alleged land dispute in Lalitpur district in UP. He was acquitted just recently but only after spending 20 years in jail for no fault of his. This is all because UP is crumbling under pending cases which is maximum in India and yet no High Court Bench been created here since 1948!

To sum up, it is high time that a major surgery is done of the judicial system prevailing in lawless states like UP which accounts for maximum pending cases in India and Bihar. When there can be 4 High Court Benches for peaceful states like Maharashtra and Assam, 3 for Karnataka and two for Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal then why just one Bench for UP and here too West UP where maximum cases of crimes take place accounting for more than half of the total pending cases in UP has none and so also Bihar has none even though PM Narendra Modi represents UP from Varanasi and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna still why no effort is made to create more High Court Benches in these two States? This is the real tragedy!

Maharashtra tops in Justice Index List as it is doing very good and still has 4 High Court Benches. The former UP Chief Justice DB Bhosale who hails from Maharashtra in his capacity as Chief Justice of UP had said that in Maharashtra women can venture out even in night alone which even I have seen myself as I did my LLB from Pune but in UP women is just not safe even with family and that too in national highway where she was assaulted brutally which I am also aware of as I stay here in Meerut! What a crowning irony that still UP has least benches in India and no wonder figures in bottom of Justice Index List and same is the case with Bihar!

This despite the irrefutable fact that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission had historically recommended 3 High Court Benches for UP but not a single created for UP even though Benches were created for other states like Maharashtra in Aurangabad, Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal! This is the real rub! The 230th Law Commission Report made in 2009 recommended for more high court benches not just for Maharashtra or Karnataka alone but for big states like UP and Bihar also but Centre is clearly culpable for not doing anything on this score for which it must hang its head in shame as it is not ready ever to do anything on this score! This case is the biggest testimony and biggest reminder that a major surgery of our decrepit, overburdened and moribund judicial system that exists especially in UP and Bihar is the crying need of the hour and it cannot be put in cold storage any longer!

How long will the most populated State that is UP and Bihar be taken for granted? How long will the just demand for more High Court Benches still be ignored by the Centre? This alone explains why Rahul Gandhi terms people of South more mature as we saw how in Karnataka two more High Court Benches were created for Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts just because Centre could not resist their unrelenting pressure whereas on contrary for more than 20 districts of West UP not a single Bench is being created even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission had recommended the same!

What can be a bigger shame and more despicable than this which is the worst violation of Article 14 which talks about right to equality! A single High Court Bench for UP was created by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1948 in Lucknow just 200 km away from Allahabad where High Court is located but no PM dares to create even a single Bench in any hook and corner of UP other than Lucknow!

This is the real tragedy! Even holy cities like Kashi, Ayodhya and Mathura which is also in West UP are considered "worthless cities" not fit to be given a High Court Bench! This is what pinches me most! Centre's conduct on this key issue of creating more Benches in UP and Bihar is most deplorable, despicable and dangerous which cannot be justified under any circumstances! It is high time and Centre must act but till now Centre has chosen to emulate the past government's dastardly stand on this which is most hurting to say the least! Most shocking!

All said and done, Allahabad High Court is one of oldest High Courts in not just India but also in Asia which completed 150 years in 2016 and also one of the biggest which has no match in whole of Asia and whose Bar members are maximum in world more than 1 lakh yet we see that leave alone benches even the number of Judges strength has not been increased and even most of the sanctioned posts which is more than half keeps lying vacant! Even the lawyers of Calcutta high court have been on strike for more than 2 months as many Judges post are lying vacant and so were lawyers of Odisha high court for the same reason! Why are more Judges not being appointed in time?

Where is our nation heading if victims don't get justice in time because of Judges not being appointed, benches not being created in big and lawless states like UP, Bihar and J&K even though Centre has full power to create any number of benches in these 3 states anytime when it wants? Lawlessness will obviously increase further with no fear among criminals of ever being brought to book! Which self-respecting Indian will feel happy to see all this?

Why is Centre now in power in all these 3 states doing nothing to address people's especially women's and most of all victim girls endless woes by at least setting up more high court benches so that they are not compelled to travel so far away and once again fall prey to some other criminal! People will ostensibly get angry and it is BJP which will suffer the most as elections are due next year in 2022! Centre is solely responsible for it as Yogi Adityanath is himself on record demanding a high court bench for Gorakhpur in 1999 while he was MP from there and similarly Atal Bihari Vajpayee who is former PM had demanded one for West UP at Meerut while in his capacity as Leader of Opposition in Parliament in 1986! Yet we see that still Centre is doing absolutely nothing to address it by taking laudable steps like setting up more high court benches, appointing more Judges, appointing more court staff and spending more on improving the infrastructure of court which is abysmal because of very miserly amount being spent on it since 1947 till 2021!

On a concluding note, it has to be said with certitude that if a high court bench cannot be set up in West UP which is most lawless as we see till now and from where litigants are compelled to travel so far at Allahabad about 700 km away on an average then certainly it has to be said without hesitation that all the high court benches in India must be disbanded and what some Allahabad High Court lawyers keep demanding that, "One state, one high court" must be implemented uniformly in all states! Now it is for Centre to decide for itself the right course of action! It cannot continue any longer with this status quo policy which has already bleeded India since many decades!

This status quo policy of last 74 years followed till now for UP will destroy not just UP which is the heart of India but the whole of India as when heart fails the whole body goes for a toss! Will Centre question this also? It must see the clear writing on the wall!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi, A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera, Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.