At the very outset, it must be stated before stating anything else that it is not a male Chief Justice but a female Chief Justice named Hon’ble Ms Ritu Bahri who led from the front the Uttarakhand High Court Division Bench also comprising of Hon’ble Mr Justice Rakesh Kumar Thapliyal who both have really dared to venture into what was earlier considered as uncharted territory virtually next to impossible and have definitely demonstrated the guts, gall and gumption coupled with pragmatic approach to approve straightaway a High Court Bench for Uttarakhand at Indian Drugs and Pharmaceutical Limited (IDPL), Rishikesh on May 8, 2024! Uttarakhand Bar Association President Mr Dinesh Chandra Singh Rawat termed it as Unprecedented in the High Court’s history! It cannot be just glossed over that this landmark oral directive came amidst the hearing of a petition that was submitted by IDPL residents in Rishikesh who likewise expressed their delight at the prospect.

It is worth noting that the case pertains to the Uttarakhand State Government’s efforts to vacate the IDPL premises in Rishikesh. In response, it must be noted that a petition was filed as mentioned above on behalf of the residents who were living on the IDPL premises after its expiration. The Uttarakhand High Court had granted a stay in this matter.

Of course, it must be also mentioned here quite explicitly that the Chief Justice Hon’ble Ms Ritu Bahri acknowledged that the proposal to relocate the Uttarakhand High Court had been suggested by lawyers years ago but a suitable location had not been identified. It must be certainly noted here that the Chief Justice had vehemently opposed the idea of tree falling in the forest department-owned land in Gaulapar in Haldwani proposing vocally instead IDPL, Rishikesh as a very viable alternative with an ample space that could be available for future expansion if needed to be made. It merits mentioning that the Chief Justice led Division Bench affirmed that the 850-acre IDPL Rishikesh land with 130 acres occupied by former employees is the suitable location for the High Court dismissing the Gaulapar option. It must be also borne in mind that although it was closed for years, the IDPL has a sprawling campus in the town of Rishikesh that is spread over 850 acres which also has the residence of its former employees.

We cannot afford to ignore that the Uttarakhand High Court’s oral order sparked a sharp reaction from the Uttarakhand High Court Bar Association which held a meeting immediately to oppose it tooth and nail arguing that shifting a Bench of the Uttarakhand High Court to Rishikesh would serve no purpose. The Bar Association also said that it will neither be in the interest of the litigants nor the lawyers. But the Uttarakhand High Court deliberated a lot before ruling which cannot be just glossed over.

While writing the order after the hearing, the Chief Justice Hon’ble Ms Ritu Bahri termed the proposal regarding the shifting of the High Court to Gaulapar in Haldwani approved by Centre in written as a wrong step and said that 850 acres of IDPL land in Rishikesh is suitable for this. It must be certainly noted here that the Chief Justice remarked clearly that shifting the Uttarakhand High Court to Gaulapar was a misstep, advocating instead for a High Court Bench in Rishikesh, which would cater to approximately 70% of the litigants from the Garhwal region, while also at the same time also maintaining the Uttarakhand High Court in Nainital for the remaining 30% from the Kumaon region.

We definitely need to keep in mind that the Uttarakhand High Court Division Bench did not sign its order in view of the protest by the lawyers and sought a written proposal from the Uttarakhand High Court Bar Association within a week giving its views on the shifting of the High Court Bench elsewhere. But a historic beginning has definitely been made which needs to be welcomed with both hands as it is the litigants who will stand to gain the most in the whole process which alone explains why the 230th Report of the Law Commission of India submitted in 2009 nearly 15 years ago most strongly advocated for the setting up of High Court Benches in States that was prepared under the Chairmanship of eminent former Supreme Court Judge and legal luminary and jurist late Dr AR Lakshmanan but most unfortunately has not yet been implemented which cannot be justified under any circumstances.

I am really so delighted to learn this that the Uttarakhand High Court has directed the establishment of a High Court Bench at IDPL, Rishikesh that I just can’t express it in words as this was totally unexpected as one never heard of agitations or strikes by lawyers unlike in West UP where lawyers have been agitating since last so many decades and have even gone so many times on strikes, padyatras, hunger strikes and what not in last so many decades and to top it all we saw how even the Justice Jaswant Singh Commission that was appointed by Centre itself which very strongly recommended a High Court Bench at Agra in West UP many decades ago yet nothing translated into action on ground! The Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court definitely needs to also take suo motu cognizance and act promptly to ensure that a High Court Bench is created in West UP which has more than 10 crores population while Uttarakhand has just one crore and more than half of the total pending cases are also from West UP!

Nothing on earth can be more unfortunate than this irrefutable fact that even as India has gone way ahead of celebrating its 75th National Republic Day yet we see lamentably that the State of Uttar Pradesh which has maximum population more than 25 crores and so also has maximum MPs both in Lok Sabha and in Rajya Sabha and so also has maximum MLAs among all the States and so also has maximum villages more than one lakh and so also has maximum number of pending cases in High Court more than 10 lakh cases and here too more than half of the pending cases are from West UP and so also has maximum pending cases in lower courts about to touch nearly one crore and so also has maximum number of Judges in all courts both in lower and in High Courts and has maximum members in State Bar Council that is the maximum in the world and still has just one High Court Bench and that too so close to Allahabad at Lucknow established in 1948 more than 76 years ago where it was just not needed at all as it is so close to Allahabad in Eastern UP and nowhere else! Worst of all, the litigants of West UP were not attached with even Lucknow which falls 230 km earlier but right uptill Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is the biggest injustice as whole night and half day is wasted on just travelling alone! Former President of Supreme Court Bar Association Mr BN Krishna Mani had very categorically stated that:
Only by the creation of a bench of HC in West UP will the people be able to secure justice. That West UP inspite of having more than 10 crore population has not even a single High Court Bench and States like Telangana was awarded Statehood in 2014 despite having just 3 crores population is what is most disturbing to note! That West UP does not have a Bench since 1947 till 2024 is most disquieting to note. It is a ghoulish mockery of Article 21 and Article 39A which provides for equal justice and free legal aid and the 230th Report of the Law Commission of India which more than 14 years ago strongly recommended creation of more High Court Benches yet lies unimplemented!

Many term Allahabad High Court as the biggest High Court in the world still why it has just one Bench only and why so many smaller States like Karnataka whose population is about 4 crore less than West UP at 6 crore whereas West UP alone has 10 crores population yet we see two High Court Bench created in one go by Centre in 2008 at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts only but not a single for 30 districts of West UP with population of more than 10 crores for which even Justice Jaswant Singh Commission in mid 1980s recommended a permanent Main High Court Bench at Agra but yet not created and Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches was given one more as recommended at Aurangabad but for undivided UP for which maximum 3 Benches were recommended not even a single Bench was most mercilessly allowed to come up in any part of UP! These bone chilling facts just cannot be swept beneath the carpet and this only reflects the raw, rotten and ruthless discrimination perpetrated on North States like UP, Bihar and Rajasthan!

Why the landmark recommendations of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission set up by Centre itself under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge – Jaswant Singh was implemented most fraudulently by not approving even a single High Court Bench for undivided Uttar Pradesh for whom it recommended maximum three Benches at Agra, Dehradun and Nainital while most partially approving just one Bench recommended for Maharashtra at Aurangabad created most promptly in early 1980s which already had multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji and so also at West Bengal in Jalpaiguri for just 6 districts which already had Bench at Port Blair for just 2 lakhs people and so also a Bench approved at Madurai in Tamil Nadu but West UP whose population is more than most of the States in India including Tamil Nadu at 10 crores was not given even a single Bench? This was the real reason why the people of hilly regions of undivided UP agitated for separate Statehood and ultimately Uttarakhand created in 2000 and for which not one Bench was conceded then for same Nainital we saw Centre conceding a separate High Court and now even a High Court Bench approved at Rishikesh!

The billion dollar question is: Is this is what Centre wants to happen in UP also? By the way, Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan who is Union Minister recently in a Jat Summit in Meerut promised separate High Court and separate Statehood! What is Centre upto? Centre is not any Tom Dick and Harry that it cannot take adequate steps to ensure the facilitation of a Bench in West UP to save the litigants of West UP from the humongous task of travelling all the way whole night and half day all the way till Allahabad at every hearing of the case to seek justice which in itself is the biggest injustice.

The billion dollar question is: Does it want huge agitations for separate Statehood in West UP? Can’t it approve even a single Bench for West UP? It must clarify!

It must also be asked: Why has Bench remained elusive for West UP for such a long time? Why is Centre demonstrating so much of obduracy in addressing it? Why West UP which owes for more than half of the total pending cases of UP 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?

What keeps on running in my mind most of the time is: Why is Centre so hell bent in denying West UP even a single Bench due to which the lawyers of West UP had gone on total strike on January 18, 2024? For 6 months in 2001 and in 2014 the lawyers of West UP had gone on 6 months strike for Bench and for two to three months also many times and one month hunger strike in 1976 and strike from May 1981 to May 2024 every Saturday to register strongest protest and many times even on Wednesday which was later discontinued so that litigants don’t suffer hugely! It is Centre led by PM and not Supreme Court led by CJI or Allahabad High Court led by Chief Justice who have been elected by the mandate of the people to alleviate their endless sufferings and not to just turn a Nelson eye to their plight! Why can’t Centre go directly to the heart of the problem?

In a nutshell, what this Uttarakhand High Court recent most landmark decision has demonstrated is that when Centre refuses to take any decision and even State Government does not do anything then it is the High Court which must act promptly in the paramount interest of justice and litigants! The UP State Government in January had recommended a High Court Bench for West UP to the Allahabad High Court in January but withdrew it the next day! No Chief Justice in either Uttar Pradesh or in Bihar or in Rajasthan has ever dared to approve even a single Bench till now but I am sure that this latest landmark judgment will definitely inspire other Judges in the coming years to follow suit! Let’s hope so fervently!

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