“Oppressive laws are being implemented. What is precedent? There is no such thing as precedent. Each judge decides based on his or her understanding of the law, whether s/he should interpret the law one way or the other. The only precedent is the precedent of the individual Bench that decides a particular case in the way that it decides - that is the only precedent. That is it. Who suffers? Ordinary people … It is time for the judiciary to realise, that it’s time for them to stand up and to ensure that what our forefathers gave us need to be zealously protected. These are rights that they gave to the citizens of our country. They can’t be wasted in this fashion. It’s time for citizens to speak up, it’s time for lawyers to speak up and it’s time for the judges to stand up.”

It must be mentioned here that it was on October 26, 2024 that eminent and senior Supreme Court lawyer and President of Supreme Court Bar Association and former Union Law Minister of India and Rajya Sabha MP and so also former Additional and Solicitor General of India Mr Kapil Sibal said this while delivering a most captivating lecture that he delivered at the Sikkim Judicial Academy argued most fluently saying that the true test of any judiciary lies in public trust. He said that:
If people lack confidence in the judiciary, it undermines its effectiveness.” He also very sagaciously touched upon the colonial remnants of the criminal justice system of India. He suggested that India needs to rethink colonial-era laws and so also practices, such as police remand, which he characterized as antithetical to modern democratic principles. While underscoring the urgent and dire need for reforms that align perfectly with best global practices, Sibal was quick to point out that:
In developed countries, investigations precede arrests while here, arrests precede investigations. In the developed world, the allegation is first investigated and then the arrest takes place. In our world, the arrest comes first and the investigation takes place later. Which country (apart from India) has police remand? It’s the colonial past which has given the police this power.” Absolutely right! Mr Kapil Sibal has thus frankly conceded without mincing any words that nothing has changed in last 78 years of independence! It is the “poorest of the poor” who suffer the most and spend more time in jail as an undertrial than the criminal who commits the crime as he is unable to fight the case which reflects the shoddy state of affairs in our legal system which must be changed root and branch! He also added that a revamp of the Indian criminal law is required while briefly also pointing out that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, has only made things worse. No doubt, the powers of the police definitely have increased manifold under the new laws!

It was Mr Kapil Sibal who as Union Law Minister had most commendably recommended creation of High Court Bench in West UP yet we saw that it was not implemented as the then Chief Minister Mr Akhilesh Yadav did not recommend the same! It is definitely as clear as broad day sunlight that which State needs more High Court Benches and which State does not need even a single High Court Bench! But the most unpalatable truth is that neither any Chief Justice of India nor any Prime Minister of India till date has ever bothered to take any initiative in this regard in last nearly 80 years of independence to do anything substantial to correct the most biggest Himalayan blunder committed in 1948 by creating only one High Court Bench for the most populated State of India with maximum number of pending cases that is Uttar Pradesh at Lucknow so near to Allahabad and nowhere else and worst of all attached litigants of 30 districts of West UP with not even Lucknow which falls 230 km earlier but right uptill Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is the biggest betrayal of Constitution in India and justice as litigants of West UP have to travel whole night and half day averaging 700 to 800 km. Most unfortunate indeed!

We must be open about it. We can’t change the system unless we talk openly about it. There is no point in pushing this under the carpet. It is nothing but plain stupidity and sheer absurdity of the highest order that West UP owing for majority of the cases of UP has not even a single Bench and Eastern UP alone has both High Court and a single Bench so near to each other!

One is totally clueless on the rationale behind denying West UP even a single Bench inspite of owing for majority of pending cases of UP! Abolish all the high court benches in India if West UP cannot be given bench because West UP which owes for majority of pending cases not just in Uttar Pradesh but even in any other region of India and in any other State also and Centre till date is dead determined never to allow even a single Bench in any nook and corner of Uttar Pradesh other than the one so near to Allahabad at Lucknow in Eastern UP and worst of all attached 30 districts of West UP with not even Lucknow but with Allahabad which is 230 km away from even Lucknow due to which litigants of West UP have to travel 700 to 800 km on average all the way whole night and half day till Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is the biggest betrayal and biggest murder of Constitution and justice as it throttles the basic right of litigants of West UP to get “justice at doorsteps”! But no one in power in Centre really cares about it! This is the real rub!

By all accounts, UP must be treated as “primus inter pares” which means first among equals! But the most unfortunate part is that UP, lawless Bihar and Rajasthan are placed in the last row by depriving them from having multiple High Court Benches most chillingly with West UP and Bihar having none and PM and CJI watching like a helpless, hapless and hopeless spectator! I am astounded, ashamed, appalled and aghast at how much temerity Centre has demonstrated in bulldozing the most legitimate demand for a High Court Bench in West UP, Purvanchal, Bundelkhand and lawless Bihar!

Should I dance in joy that Centre is approving and inaugurating more and more international airports in UP which already tops in the State list in having maximum number of airports and so also in West UP and most recently an airport inaugurated in Saharanpur which is also in West UP but is most far away from Allahabad High Court about 800 kms and still we see no High Court Bench being created in West UP which makes me hang my head in shame? In one shot, UP has become the only State in India to have over 10 international airports. On March 10, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated multiple airports in UP in cities which include Aligarh in West UP, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Moradabad in West UP and Shravasti! Can a very poor person afford to travel by aeroplane? Why Centre is catering only for the “richest of the rich” but not for the “poorest of the poor” by creating even a single High Court Bench in any of the 30 districts of West UP with more than 10 crores population which is most baffling indeed? Why Centre very conveniently glosses over what Mahatma Gandhi once said most famously that, “Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you have seen, and ask yourself if this step you contemplate is going to be any use to him?”
Though the Bench issue in West UP is now a staple of scholarly discourse, it has made scarcely any inroads into the common understanding of the “poorest of poor” for whom the lawyers of West UP have been crusading by taking the battle of High Court Bench to the streets to ensure that it reaches to its logical conclusion of creation of a Bench in West UP! As recently as on October 19, 2024, the lawyers of West UP in Meerut resolved that they would not shy away from even going to jail if Centre does not fulfill their most legitimate and compelling demand for a High Court Bench in West UP and boycotted work just like as has been happening every Saturday in all districts of West UP since last 43 years yet we see that Centre is caring two hoots for it which definitely cannot be ever justified under any circumstances!

It is very rightly pointed out by eminent and senior lawyer and so also former General Secretary of Meerut Bar – Mr Tarun Dhaka in his enlightening legal article titled “How Can It Happen That UP Has Least High Court Benches In India And West UP Has None” published most prominently in June 2015 issue of the prestigious All India Reporter (AIR) Law Journal explaining in detail which is definitely a “Must Read Article” for not just students and lawyers but even for Judges that how most openly Uttar Pradesh has been so wrongly discriminated in allotment of High Court Benches and worst of all how West UP has been deprived from having even a single High Court Bench even though it owes for majority of the pending cases of Uttar Pradesh as acknowledged by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission appointed nearly 50 years ago by Centre itself headed by former Supreme Court Judge due to which it recommended a permanent main Bench for West UP! It is absolutely mind blowing to see how the most populated State of India with maximum number of pending cases has been so chillingly, cunningly and callously discriminated against without any remorse when it comes to High Court Benches where there is just one at Lucknow so close to Allahabad where it was just not needed at all created way back in 1948 and in West UP, Purvanchal and Bundelkhand none just like in lawless Bihar where there is none! There has been a complete non-application of mind when it comes to the creation of High Court Benches in different regions and different States!

Coincidentally we see that incumbent PM Mr Narendra Modi is MP from Varanasi in UP and incumbent CJI Hon’ble Dr Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud whose home State is Maharashtra which has maximum number of High Court Benches even though it tops in Justice Index Ranking of States list and has much less pending cases than UP and less Judges which only underscores how vital it is to ensure that UP has multiple High Court Benches! It was in his tenure as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court that lawyers of 22 districts of West UP under one banner went on strike for 6 months demanding High Court Bench just like it was done in 2001 and still nothing was done to resolve the deadlock! As CJI Hon’ble Dr DY Chandrachud is on verge of completing two years in CJI post on November 10, 2024 when he will retire finally for which less than 12 days left and he must do something on it which is the biggest and blackest stain on his otherwise unblemished track record which even his worst critics admire openly!

In this regard, I must say that it was most enlightening to read the sagacious legal article titled “Why CJI Never Dares To Speak Up On High Court Bench In West UP? by eminent, senior and distinguished lawyer of Meerut Bar – Mr Parvez Alam published in prestigious web portal “Legal India” dated 6 February 2023 and his many other legal articles on the dire need for “High Court Bench in West UP” has also been published in ‘The Daily Guardian’ newspaper like Neither High Court Nor Even A Bench For Western UP” updated on November 29, 2022 and so also “Centre Or Apex Court Must Order Bench In West UP” updated on December 9, 2022 and so also his many articles on High Court Bench I have read in “The Daily Punjab Times” e-newspaper underscoring how desperately UP needs more High Court Benches and so also West UP! It is most saddening to note that UP has given maximum PM to India since independence still most unfortunately has just one High Court Bench which cannot be justified somehow or anyhow! It is definitely most pathetic and is most disheartening to see as it is the “biggest betrayal of Constitution and justice” with no one wanting to catch the bull by the horns! This must change now!

Which country on earth will act so shamelessly, senselessly and stupidly like India to deprive the most populated State of India that is Uttar Pradesh (UP) from having not just maximum but not even from having multiple High Court Benches which owes for maximum number of pending cases among all the States in India and here too adding salt to wound has further ensured that only one particular region that is Eastern UP alone has both High Court and so also Capital and so also single High Court Bench and rubbing salt on the wounds of the people of West UP attached litigants of West UP with not Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is definitely the biggest betrayal of justice and Constitution? This despite the irrefutable fact that it is West UP which owes for majority of pending cases of UP which is also the highest in any region of India which has left me completely speechless, shocked, stunned and shattered to the hilt! The argument that West UP cannot be given even a single High Court Bench deserves to be rejected in its entirety. I am a complete loss to comprehend that what is the raison d’être of Centre denying West UP even a single Bench even though majority of cases are from West UP in both High Court and in lower courts?

It merits questioning: How can Apex Court gloss over the time tested dictum that:
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere?” Why Apex Court never dares to take suo motu cognizance of this open cheating and blatant discrimination defies logic and is truly incomprehensible raising a big question mark on its firm commitment to equality as envisaged in Article 14 of Constitution? What I find most jaw-dropping to note is that this denial of a High Court Bench to West UP is despite the irrefutable fact that it is West UP which owes for majority of pending cases of UP and ideally High Court itself should be transferred to West UP as it is intending to do in Assam, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh but leave alone transferring High Court, we see that Centre is just not at all prepared to create even a single High Court Bench as recommended by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge appointed by Centre itself nearly 50 years ago and even though its recommendations have been implemented in Maharashtra by creating Bench in Aurangabad which already had High Court Benches in Nagpur and Panaji and so also for West Bengal at Jalpaiguri which already had a Bench in Port Blair and so also at Madurai in Tamil Nadu but not a single for UP for which maximum three Benches were recommended with permanent Bench at Agra in West UP yet not even a single Bench approved for West UP as was recommended!

But most horrendously and most horribly and most intriguingly, we see that not even the incumbent CJI Dr Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud never dares to question Centre inspite of being Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court for nearly three years as he himself most proudly concedes and to top it all it was in his tenure as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court for nearly three years as he himself concedes that lawyers of West UP went on total strike in 2014-15 demanding Bench in West UP for six months just like in 2001 yet he did nothing to break the ice and now even as his two years tenure of CJI is about to end in few days we see he has not ever taken suo motu action to address it permanently which makes for a very depressing reading! Is he waiting for last day to act? One had never expected this “nonchalant” approach from him because he has performed most brilliantly on all other issues which I fully applaud, adore and admire! Why vested interests of powerful lobby deadly opposed to the creation of a Bench in West UP have been allowed to trump over all other factors? The Bench genie is long out and it definitely cannot be put back in, only can be kept on a leash!

Needless to say, the denial of even a single Bench to West UP is utterly unconstitutional as it is West UP which owes for majority of the pending cases of UP! Why has Centre disrobed democracy by denying West UP even a single Bench? Why has Centre so steadfastly maintained a deafening conspiratorial silence on such a hot-button issue such as setting up of Bench in West UP as was recommended by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission appointed by Centre itself nearly 50 years ago headed by former Supreme Court Judges?

The niggling question that prickles me most is: Why is Centre so deadly against the creation of even a single Bench in West UP or in any other part of UP other than in Eastern UP where both High Court and single Bench located so close to each other? This is what PM needs to pause and contemplate most seriously which he has not done till now! Denial of even a single Bench to West UP is premised on false, flawed and flimsy grounds with no merit in it!

What really puts me off is to witness how Centre has most deliberately, derisively, dangerously and dastardly bulldozed the most legitimate demand for a Bench in West UP which cannot be condoned ever! The dire need for a Bench in West UP is inextricably linked to the huge inconvenience that poor litigants face in travelling whole night and half day all the way to Allahabad as they cannot afford plane travel yet Centre never accepts its responsibility and passes the buck to Governor which it itself appoints! One would have to be willfully naive to believe that West UP does not need a Bench! Also, one would have to be supremely naive not to see how deliberately Centre has deprived big northern states like Rajasthan which is biggest state areawise, lawless Bihar and UP from having multiple Benches with Bihar not having even single!

Even the incumbent CM Shri Yogi Adityanath in January 2024 had forwarded the proposal for a Bench in West UP to Allahabad High Court but most intriguingly withdrew it the very next day! He also 25 years ago had demanded Bench in Gorakhpur right inside Parliament and in 2015 even presented a Private Member Bill for it in Parliament! Still in last 76 years not a single Bench created other than the one at Lucknow since July 1948!

It is most shocking that UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 26 crore as CM Yogi Adityanath and so also PM Narendra Modi always so very proudly claims, 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% and now after so many decades the percentage of pending cases in West UP has gone substantially much higher, maximum cases in lower courts about to touch 1 crore, maximum Judges both in High Court – 160 and also in lower courts, maximum vacancies of Judges both in High Court and also in lower courts, maximum members in UP Bar Council more than 1 lakh and which is also the largest Bar Council in the world as claimed in the website itself of UP Bar Council 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 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 just recently we see Bahraich coming in news for communal disturbances most recently, maximum undertrials in all age groups and what not yet Centre till now in October 2024 from July 1948 when a Bench was created in Lucknow which is so close to Allahabad and where it was just not needed at all is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but for the entire UP nor even ready to attach 30 districts of West UP with more than 10 crore population which is more than majority of States with Lucknow? 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 12 districts has a Bench! Allahabad High Court is biggest High Court in whole of Asia as was claimed by Yogi Adityanath and many say in whole world and also is one of oldest High Court and UP Bar Council has maximum members yet has least Bench just one and so very near to Allahabad which is nothing but most senseless, shameless and stupid decision perpetuated since independence and not rectified till now! There is a political predicament that is complicating this Bench issue to be addressed effectively!

It must be asked: Why is it that the people of West UP of more than 30 districts foolishly were compelled and are still compelled most senselessly to travel all the way to Allahabad which is far away even from Lucknow where High Court Bench is located and averages 600 to 800 km on an average but the people of Nawab City i.e. Lucknow cannot travel even 200 km away to Allahabad? Most shamefully, why no one ever really cares for poorest of poor, women and infirm and physically handicapped people who can’t travel so far easily and Centre is most happy by inaugurating an international airport at Kushinagar and now again at Jewar in West UP and in Ayodhya in December 2023 and most recently in Saharanpur in West UP which is a very good thing and has maximum airports in India and so also maximum highways and super expressways but why we then see so miserliness on High Court Bench for West UP which will benefit all whether poor or rich or Hindu or Muslim or of any other religion? Centre must act now and not just keep on advancing one lame excuse or the other as a pretext for not creating a High Bench anywhere in UP other than at Lucknow where it was just not needed at all as it is so close to Allahabad and worst still the 30 districts of West UP were not attached even with Lucknow which falls 230 km earlier but right uptill Allahabad which means more than 700 km on average all the way to Allahabad to seek justice which in itself is the biggest injustice!

It must definitely be asked: When Centre in 2008 can create two High Court Benches for Karnataka which has just 6 crore population for just 4 and 8 districts only at Dharwad and Gulbarga respectively then why for 30 districts with 10 crore population West UP cannot have five or six High Court Benches as maximum number of pending cases are from West UP? Why litigants of West UP have to travel whole night and half day all the way to Allahabad? 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 12 districts has a bench!

We all know that for just 3 crore people of Telangana Centre approved separate High Court and separate Capital and Statehood on June 2, 2014 just like for Andhra Pradesh with population of just 4 crores by partitioning Andhra Pradesh just like Chhattisgarh was created by partitioning Madhya Pradesh in November 2000 even though population of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh combined is less than West UP alone! But most shockingly for West UP with more than 10 crores people we see that not even a High Court Bench is approved by Centre which leaves me completely speechless! Why the hell on earth Supreme Court has been so tolerant to this open most worst discrimination on the distribution of High Court Benches in different States? Why lawless Bihar has not even a single High Court Bench and so also West UP which owes for majority of cases of UP?

It is a no-brainer that Eastern UP alone cannot be deemed to have an indefeasible right to have both High Court and High Court Bench and in other regions like Western UP or Bundelkhand or Purvanchal not allowing even a single Bench is most horrendous because this flawed approach is against the very core basis on which our Constitution rests upon. It cannot be dismissed lightly that none other than Dr BR Ambedkar who is considered as the key architect of the Constitution himself proposed the division of Uttar Pradesh into three States that is Western, Eastern and Central and still Centre most shamelessly is not ready to concede even a single High Court Bench to West UP leave alone creating five to six High Court Benches as ideally should be the case! This alone explains why Ex-CJI Mr Jagdish Singh Khehar had once very rightly said that, “One set of citizens cannot prosper at the cost of another set of citizens, for that would not be fair or unreasonable.”

It must be said that Supreme Court which is the last bastion of hope for people and litigants and so also the CJI Hon’ble Dr DY Chandrachud who has been CJI for last nearly two years and who earlier was Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court for nearly three years when lawyers of West UP went on strike for nearly six months in 2014-15 just like in 2001 from July to December and so also most astoundingly strike every Saturday since last 43 years have definitely not crowned themselves with glory by leaving everything on Centre alone who has done just nothing on it! Supreme Court is final but it cannot be always infallible! It has grievously erred by not doing anything on this since last nearly 78 years!

Let’s still fervently hope that better sense prevails on it and it acts keeping in mind the larger interests of the litigants of West UP which owes for majority of cases of UP and still has not even a single Bench! How long will the litigants of West UP be made a scapegoat for no fault of theirs? To say the very least, Supreme Court just like Centre must show some sense of regret, remorse and repentance for maintaining a ‘sphinx-like silence’ on not doing anything to implement the historic Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommendations in UP of a permanent Bench in West UP also like it was implemented in States like Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches and still one more was created at Aurangabad!

The narrative that is gaining ground because of media not highlighting this Bench issue proactively is that people consider it a trivial issue which is definitely not the case! Even Centre’s role in addressing it leaves a lot to be desired! Why can’t even Centre get to the bottom of the problem which has been festering for such a long time inordinately? How long will even Centre do just nothing to check, combat and crush all those stumbling blocks that have contributed in one way or the other to stymie the chances of West UP being given a Bench as was demanded even by former PM late Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1986 right inside Parliament as Leader of Opposition?

I would now like to draw the curtains with a bright sense of optimism about the future by quoting the famous Lebanese poet – Kahlil Gibran: “Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty and obey only love!” Let’s fervently hope that one day or the other, we will see either Supreme Court or Centre doing something on this most decisively just like for lawless Bihar where there is not even a single Bench but at least it has High Court but West UP has not even a Bench! The upshot of above detailed discussion is that it has become indubitably clear that Centre has favoured worst discrimination in creation of High Court Benches in different States and different regions which definitely is the biggest, blatant, brutal, baseless and blind discrimination that makes an open mockery of Article 14 of Constitution when States like Madhya Pradesh which has just 7 crore population, Karnataka which has just 6 crore population can have separate High Court and multiple High Court Benches then why West UP with more than 10 crores population has got no Bench leave alone High Court like Tamil Nadu with just 7 crore population and Andhra Pradesh with 4 crore population and Telangana with 3 crore population among other States who have separate High Court and so also many other States who have far less population but still have High Court and West UP has not even a Bench just like Bundelkhand and Purvanchal!

It is certainly high time now and judiciary must definitely listen to Mr Kapil Sibal who has more than 52 years of experience as an advocate right in the Supreme Court itself and must be more proactive in protecting the rights of the citizenry! Whether it is the right of the people of West UP to get “justice at doorsteps” by being given a High Court Bench as recommended even by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission or the right of a citizen not to be arrested without proper investigation being conducted, it is the judiciary that has to step in and be more proactive in taking the bull by the horns! I would now like to conclude by quoting Mr Kapil Sibal who very rightly pointed out that:
As long as you have a centre of power vested in a particular institution, which controls the subordinate courts, you will not get independence. We need to certainly move away from a centralised system of control. You can’t have the High Court on its own controlling everything in the subordinate judiciary. Just as you can’t have the collegium now deciding who should be appointed to the Supreme Court. That is really the heart of the problem. Because one has to concede that concentration of power always leads to arbitrariness.” No denying or disputing it!

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