It was on auspicious November 26, 1949 that Constitution was prepared by eminent jurists and experts under Chairmanship of Dr BR Ambedkar who is the key architect to ensure equality, liberty, justice and secularism without any discrimination on any ground whatsoever! At this stage, it would be material to note that justice and truth can be ensured only if there is a level playing field. What we see in case of distribution of High Court Benches in different States most unequally and most disgracefully is by Centre giving few elite States like Maharashtra, Assam, Karnataka, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh multiple High Court Benches leaving out big States like UP, Rajasthan and Bihar to suffer with just one or no Bench which makes a complete mockery of the very concept of justice, truth and equality as enshrined in Constitution and is definitely the biggest disrespect to it!

Let me put it this way: Why is Centre mutilating Article 14 of Constitution by denying West UP even a single Bench and equipping Eastern UP alone with both High Court and a Bench? Why Maharashtra tops in latest Justice Index Ranking States list and still has maximum Benches and UP even though figuring in bottom and owing for maximum cases still one Bench only? Why West UP owing for more than half of the total pending cases has no Bench? This is sheer subversion of Constitution itself and what it stands for!

What is worst is that even after 77 years we hardly notice any big change in Bench distribution and the 230th Report of Law Commission of India which recommended creation of more High Court Benches in States is still gathering dust! Why even Apex Court not once in last 77 years has dared to take suo motu note of it is truly incomprehensible? Why not one Bench created in last 75 years in Uttar Pradesh which owes for maximum pending cases among all States and West UP owes for more than half of them yet no Bench?

The billion dollar question is: Why lawless Bihar has no High Court Bench? What is the point in denying West UP even a single Bench when it owes for more than half of the total pending cases of UP and High Court at Allahabad is so far about 700 km on average for which Justice Jaswant Singh Commission also recommended strongly a Bench? This article aims to really explore dispassionately why such blatant, brazen and blind disrespect of Constitution has been allowed to fester, flourish and linger inordinately for such a long time! I must ventilate my deepest grievances on it.

I really just can’t fathom one single cogent reason as to why Eastern UP which already had High Court at Allahabad since more than 250 years was given High Court Bench also so close to Allahabad at Lucknow just about 230 km away way back in July 1948 and worst of all what I find most unfathomable is that we saw how all other regions including West UP and hilly areas of undivided Uttar Pradesh were deprived of even a single High Court Bench right since 1947 due to which litigants of hilly areas had to travel thousands of kilometers like a slave all the way to Allahabad not even Lucknow to seek justice which is more than 230 km away from Lucknow due to which litigants of West UP have to travel about 700 to 750 km on an average which means whole night and half day spent on just travelling alone and even in 2023 the position of West UP is no different and only hilly areas have got justice finally with people agitating and Centre ultimately granting it separate Statehood in November 2000 and thus it got High Court itself but the 10 crore people of West UP are still empty handed with Centre not allowing even a single High Court Bench to come up in any of the districts of West UP! If Lucknow is capital of Uttar Pradesh then Bhopal is capital of Madhya Pradesh but it has neither High Court which is at Jabalpur nor Bench which are at Indore and Gwalior and so also we see in many other States like Assam where capital is Dispur but it has neither High Court which is at Guwahati nor even a Bench!

PM Shri Narendra Modi is cent percent right that appeasement is the biggest hurdle for development and country’s growth. I hold PM in highest esteem and I would humbly submit that what rankles, ruffles and ruptures my peace of mind most is: Whom is Centre appeasing by denying West UP even a single High Court for nearly 80 years since independence even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended maximum three High Court Benches for Uttar Pradesh yet not one has been created even after completion of 50 years of its recommendations? I have just no inkling as to why West UP is facing most brutal, brazen and blind discrimination from Centre by denying it even a single Bench even though it contributes more than 75 percent of State revenue and owes for more than half of the total pending cases of UP which is most despicable, dangerous and dastardly act being perpetrated most openly and most irrationally trampling what Constitution stands for as enshrined in Article 14 which cannot be ever justified under any circumstances!

The heart of the matter is: Centre itself has turned out to be the biggest stumbling block in the creation of a High Court Bench in West UP and other needy regions. I am always left scratching my head as to why Centre is dilly-dallying this key issue since last 77 years when former CJI Ranjan Gogoi too had ruled as CJI while listening to a PIL filed by KM Chitra who is a woman lawyer and who leaded for High Court Bench for West UP but CJI in November 2018 dismissed the petition while appreciating the compelling grounds that she listed apart from distance factor for a High Court Bench in West UP and said that it was for Centre to decide! Why since last 77 years Centre has never allowed the dice to be loaded in favour of West UP by approving a Bench and why most discriminatingly it is only Eastern UP which has been allowed to hold the sway over both High Court and a single Bench? This is precisely my point!

In the most blatant act of discrimination, partiality and cheating perpetrated openly upon by Centre most chillingly by approving one more High Court Bench for a peaceful State like Maharashtra at Aurangabad as recommended even though Maharashtra with much less pending cases already had multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji and so also for West Bengal at Jalpaiguri for just 6 districts as recommended by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge even though it had a Bench at Port Blair for just 3 lakh people and so also for Madurai at Tamil Nadu as recommended but not a single for UP even though it recommended maximum three for UP including one for West UP! Since May 1981 till November 2023, the lawyers of West UP have been going on strike every Saturday apart from six months strike in 2001 and 2014 and one month hunger strike in 1978 and many more such similar strikes in protest against this worst discrimination that was perpetrated upon by Centre and repeatedly made pleas for creating a Bench in any of the districts of West UP but all pleas fell on deaf ears!

When Centre can most pompously spend billions of rupees to reduce the time limit in travelling from Meerut to Delhi which is just about 70 kms then why can’t it simply just create a High Court Bench in any of the 22 districts of West UP so that the litigants who suffer the most endlessly by being made to travel whole night and half day averaging 700 to 750 km all the way not even till Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad and after most tiring journey then rush to High Court to submit important details including photograph and then start searching for hotel which many times are not available or are available at exorbitant rates but Centre most shockingly has done just nothing to address it as Allahabad High Court has red-flagged the e-filing also which I find most incomprehensible! Centre must act now and provide most durable solution by approving High Court Bench not just in West UP but also in other needy regions of UP like Bundelkhand and Purvanchal! It definitely now brooks no more delay anymore!

What sense does it make that West UP has been denied a Bench since last 77 years due to which litigants have to travel whole night and half day till Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is the biggest injustice and equipping only Eastern UP which already had High Court with Bench also created 75 years ago at Lucknow so near to Allahabad and then attached West UP not even with Lucknow which falls 230 km earlier but right uptill Allahabad most despotically? Why more than half of the pending cases are from West UP and still no Bench here? What rubbish!

As if this was not enough, Centre most disgracefully yet again approved two High Court Benches for Karnataka with a population of just 6 crores at Dharwad and Gulbarga respectively but for West UP with a population of more than 10 crores and 30 districts with 22 districts coming under one banner yet we see Centre not approving even a single High Court Bench and keeps dishing out one lame excuse or the other to justify denial of even a single High Court Bench to West UP which cannot be ever justified! To top it all, we find that even the Apex Court has failed to take suo motu cognizance of this open blatant fraud striking at the very root of the concept of “justice at doorsteps” and “equality” as envisaged in Article 14 of the Constitution! More than anything else, what pinches the people of West UP most is that Lucknow which is so close to Allahabad can have High Court Bench since 1948 for just 12 districts but West UP with 22 districts even as 2024 is about to start is still not deemed fit by Centre for a Bench!

At first blush, one can make out most easily as to which State needs more High Court Benches and which part of the State needs more Benches yet most atrociously Centre despite knowing everything is just not prepared to take any concrete action in Uttar Pradesh due to which the huge pending cases are piling up so rapidly! Centre must definitely 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 - late 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 definitely cannot be ever justified under any circumstances! I am definitely most 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 where Nehruji set up one on July 1, 1948 less than a year after independence and that’s all not a single more even though UP tops the States list in having maximum number of pending cases and here too it is West UP which accounts for more than half of the total pending cases of UP and still has none and the litigants are made to travel horrendously all the way whole night and half day till not even Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad and which is definitely just not done as it makes the worst mockery of Article 14 of the Constitution and Supreme Court too has been watching like a helpless, hapless and hopeless spectator!

What I really detest the most is Centre’s blind opposition to a High Court Bench in any nook and corner of Uttar Pradesh and as public posturing always lay the blame on the doors of either Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court or Chief Minister or Governor which is nothing but “white lie” as it is Centre and Centre alone which has got the mandate to govern India and not some Chief Justice or Chief Minister or Governor as sought to be most wrongly projected which is a valiant diversionary tactic adopted by Centre for which it cannot be ever exonerated under any circumstances! All the arguments that are forwarded opposing a High Court Bench in West UP are entirely untenable and just not fit to be entertained!

It is definitely most outrageous to see how Centre has repeatedly poured cold water on the most legitimate and compelling demand for a High Court Bench which is the crying need of the hour also! What disenchants and demoralizes me most to note is the cold shouldered raw treatment meted out by Centre to the most legitimate and compelling need for a Bench in West UP which has to be strongly and roundly condemned. Centre has truly messed up intentionally on Bench issue since last 77 years from which it cannot be absolved by giving a clean certificate to itself!

What really perplexes me most is: Inspite of so many agitations by lawyers, Centre has still not deemed it appropriate to consider it seriously and pursue it to its logical conclusion! What has left me completely stung is that not one Prime Minister in last 77 years could ever summon the courage and conviction to catch the bull by the horns and order a High Court Bench to be created in West UP and so also in other needy regions of UP! How can it be ever lightly dismissed by anyone that West UP alone owes for nearly half of the total population of UP and so also contributes more than 75% of the State revenue and to top it all what cannot be glossed over is that it is West UP which owes for more than half of the total pending cases of UP as conceded even by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission and still no Bench created here!

As the 2024 General Elections are hardly few months away we hear BJP eminent and senior leader and Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan while speaking in Jat Summit in Meerut in West UP recently advocated separate Statehood for West UP with High Court seat being at Meerut but this is just lip service which we have been hearing since last so many decades with even former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and now Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh openly batting for a High Court Bench in West UP and so also many other senior leaders and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had the guts to demand a High Court Bench for Meerut right inside Parliament in 1986 and in 1955, the then Congress Chief Minister Dr Sampoorananand also recommended a High Court Bench in Meerut and so also many others but still nothing materialized on ground! Why this double standard approach of leaders of parties ruling in Centre? Whom are they fooling?

It must be asked: Why can’t Centre give a action-shutting reply as it did so bravely in Telangana in 2014 for just 3 lakh people by approving Statehood itself to prove how much it cares for the person standing on the last line of a row by most promptly approving more High Court Benches in most needy regions of UP like in West UP, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal? To top it all, we see that Centre is even allowing the judiciary i.e. Allahabad High Court to deny even e-filing facility which Centre had itself approved for States and which was to start from November 1, 2023 even though in many States like Orissa, Telangana and others it has been in operation since a pretty long time! It was by the notification issued on 18 October, 2023 that had permitted e-filing of cases from any district of UP from November 1, 2023! Plainly speaking, this is what pinches the lawyers of West UP most and Centre’s nonchalance in addressing it is quite ostensible!

It must be definitely asked: How long would the interminable wait for a High Court Bench in West UP continue inordinately? The lawyers of West UP went for months on hunger strike as in 1978 and so also have gone on padyatras many times most famously being in 1986 and now again contemplating padyatra in 2024 and so also for 6 months strike as in 2001 and so also in 2014-15 and many times even on Wednesday which was discontinued so that the litigants don’t suffer endlessly! My short key point is: For how long will Centre just like legendary emperor Dhritarashtra of the Mahabharat era who ensured Kurukshetra war pretend to be totally blind to the sad spectacle? What I would like to press here most strongly is: Centre must definitely now address this Bench issue most promptly!

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