It is most troubling to note that a high court bench had been created by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru way back in 1948 at Lucknow which is so close to Allahabad just about 150 km away but no bench was created any where else in West UP or even in hilly areas of the now separate state called Uttarakhand and the people there had to travel thousands of kilometers all the way to Allahabad to get justice as Centre wanted both high court and bench to be only in Eastern UP! Disgraceful! Why no one bothered ever to think about the sorry plight of the litigants of West UP and hilly areas now formed into Uttarakhand who had to travel so far just because there was no bench anywhere in all these places? Can this worst discrimination be ever justified by anyone?

Why Nehru had the guts to create a bench in Lucknow in 1948 but no PM had the guts to set up a bench anywhere in West UP from 1947 to 2018? Why for just 12 districts of Lucknow a high court bench was approved in 1948 but for 26 districts no bench approved in last 70 years even as 2018 is standing on the door? Why is it ignored that just because Lucknow is the capital does not mean that it becomes automatically entitled to a high court or a bench because there are so many capitals like Bhopal of Madhya Pradesh, Bhubaneshwar of Odisha, Thiruvananthapuram of Kerala and Dehradun of Uttarakhand which have neither high court nor bench?

Why is it 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 but the people of West UP and Uttarakhand were expected 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 2018 but way back 70 years ago in 1948 in Lucknow?

Why even the landmark recommendations of the Justice Jaswant Singh Commission appointed by Centre itself way back in late 1970s which recommended the creation of 3 high court benches at Agra, Nainital and Dehradun in UP were not accepted even though its recommendations to create a bench at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Madurai in Tamil Nadu were promptly accepted? Why was it overlooked that UP which has maximum population more than 22 crore which is more than the population of many countries including Pakistan and among all states in India, has maximum crime rate, has maximum pending cases and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases about 57% as acknowledged even by Justice Jaswant Commission, sends maximum MPs to Parliament, maximum MLAs to State Assembly, maximum PM and what not deserved highest benches and not the minimum? Why no PM till date has ever dared to correct this historical blunder?

Why even Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself demanded the creation of a high court bench in West UP as recommended by Justice Jaswant Commission while he was Leader of Opposition but still his legitimate demand was rejected outright? Why lawyers of West UP even started going on strike for several months as they did in 2001 when they went on strike not for one month or two months or three months but for full six months, for three months as they did in 2014-15, for one month as they did in 2010 and for several weeks as they did in 2009 and similarly many times earlier also and later also as they were on strike just recently in October but still no action is being taken to create a bench here? Why lawyers of West UP even started going on strike every Saturday also since May 1981 till now even as 2017 is about to end that is more than 36 years and still no serious effort is still being made to resolve the huge deadlock due to which litigants have to bear the maximum inconveniences?

Why when the 230^th report of Law Commission recommended the creation of more high court benches was it implemented only in Karnataka which already had a bench in Hubli and which did not need more benches as it is a relatively peaceful state as compared to lawless states like UP and Bihar? Why UP has just one high court bench at Lucknow only so near to Allahabad and not at any other place and why Bihar notorious for its lawlessness has no bench? Why maximum cases of rapes as happened with a 100 year old lady in Meerut who died later, gang rapes, communal riots, murders and all forms of crimes takes place in maximum number in West UP yet no high court bench is being created here?

Why Karnataka whose population is just about 6 crore which is less than even West UP which has more than 9 crore population was given two more benches for just 4 and 8 districts at Dharwad and Gulbarga but not a single bench for not just West UP but whole of UP? Why Karnataka has less than 2 lakh pending cases yet 2 more high court benches created but for UP which has about 10 lakh pending cases has just one high court bench? Why former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon slammed UP as the “crime and rape capital of India” yet Centre approved no more benches for it?

Yogi Adityanath shouted for a high court bench for Gorakhpur in 1998 right inside Parliament but even now as he completes one year as CM of UP, he is unable to create even a single bench even in Gorakhpur leave alone West UP! For just 3 lakh population of Andaman and Nicobar islands a high court bench is approved at Port Blair and similarly for small states like Sikkim with just 6 lakh population and less than 100 cases pending, high court itself is approved but no action for West UP! Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura had population of less than 30 lakh yet high court created but not a single bench is being approved for more than 9 crore people living in West UP!

The population of West UP is more than all the states except Maharashtra, Bihar and UP of which it itself forms a part and here too areawise West UP is bigger than Bihar yet has no bench leave alone high court! Why inspite of “bandh call” given by lawyers and traders all over West UP time and again due to which heavy loss is incurred running into crores and crores of rupees but still Centre miserably failed to take any action in addressing this humongous problem onace and for all by creating a single bench anywhere where it wants? Why Satyapal Singh who is BJP MP from Baghpat and former Mumbai Police Commissioner who was recently made Union Minister very strongly demanded right inside Parliament the creation of 5 high court benches at Meerut, Agra, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Varanasi but Centre is not prepared to set up even a single bench in any part of UP even as it completes 3 years and is about to complete 4 years in office?

Why Allahabad High Court is biggest court not just in India but in whole of Asia and is also the oldest court completing 150 years in 2016 yet it has least benches only one and peaceful states like Assam, Karnataka and Maharashtra have 4, 3 and 3 benches each? Why no party is allowing even a single bench more anywhere in UP inspite of UP especially witnessing maximum crime incidents? Why the high court and benches of 8 states and above all even Lahore high court in Pakistan is closer to West UP as compared to Allahabad still no bench is being created here?

Why is it being ignored that high court itself of UP was established initially in Agra in West UP in 1866 but three years later shifted to Allahabad then why can’t it be shifted back if Centre is not ready to create a bench here as it can be shifted whenever the need is felt? But why shift high court and shifting high court is not an easy task? Why can’t simply one high court bench more be created in West UP? Is it such a big deal?

Why the relentless agitation by lawyers of West UP is being overlooked by Centre who are fighting people’s fight who are compelled to travel foolishly whole night many times without reserrvation about 800 km all the way to Allahabad as there is no high court bench in West UP? Why President Ram Nath Kovind keeps harping on speedy justice, justice at doorsteps and cheap justice but people in his own state and his own native district – Kanpur are compelled to travel all the way to Allahabad and suffer endlessly as there is no high court bench anywhere in West UP? Can Centre answer?

Why inspite of repeated assurances from Rajnath Singh who is Union Home Minister and many other Union Ministers like him of creating a high court bench in West UP soon as they come to power both in Centre and UP have chosen to conveniently forget the same? Why all elected representatives from West UP demand bench right inside Parliament no matter from which party they belong still why no bench is being created here till date? Why a high court bench was created at Lucknow in 1948 but not in West UP till 2018?

Why such a raw and third rated step motherly treatment for the more than 9 crore people living here in West UP? Why have they been compelled to bear all sorts of inconveniences just like the 88 lakh people of hilly areas of UP who now form a separate state Uttarakhand and who now have their own high court? If they had been given bench earlier they would never have agitated for a separate state but Centre most shockingly didn’t want a bench to be given to them inspite of Justice Jaswant Commission’s recommendations but finally had to settle with a high court for them!

Does Centre wants West UP to go the Uttarakhand way? Does Centre not know that the population of West UP is more than 9 crore and of Uttarakhand was just 88 lakh when it was formed? Why a bench for Lucknow since 1948 but no bench for West UP even seventy years later in 2018? Can Centre give one logical argument for this?

All PM from Nehru to Modi have cared a damn for West UP till now and this alone explains why it has no bench even though it witnesses maximum crime incidents and victims are compelled to travel for case hearings so far all the way to Allahabad just because there is no high court bench here! No PM till date has ever shown the guts to set right this worst crime happening under their nose with their own tacit permission for reasons known best to it! Nothing on earth can be more shocking!

Sanjeev Sirohi,

Advocate,