Is it time to establish a High Court bench in Western UP?

It is no secret that West UP alone accounts for more than half of the total pending cases in UP and still it has no high court bench! It is no secret that the pending cases of UP stands highest in India and Allahabad High Court has maximum Judges in India – 160 even though usually we find that more than half of the seats keep lying vacant which only serves to further aggravate the situation as the pending cases rapidly multiply! It is no secret that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission which was appointed by the late PM way back in 1970s had strongly recommended 3 benches for the then undivided UP with one at Agra and also at Dehradun and Nainital which are now in Uttarakhand yet not a single bench was approved even though benches on its recommendations were approved for Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Madurai in Tamil Nadu!

It is no secret that to protest this step-motherly treatment meted out to West UP and hilly areas, the lawyers of 26 districts decided to go on strike along with lawyers of 13 districts of Uttarakhand who then formed part of UP as Centre did not approve even a single bench anywhere and this strike every Saturday has been going on since May 1981 till now 37 years later yet Centre has shown no seriousness in addressing it once and for all! It is no secret that the nearly about 88 lakh people of hilly areas of UP got justice in 2000 when Centre conferred statehood but for more than 9 crore people of 26 districts of West UP, Centre is just not ready to do anything! It is no secret that lawyers of 26 districts of West UP even went on strike for 6 months in 2001 as they did earlier also and then in 2009 for a month and in 2014-15 for 3 to 4 months and every year for many weeks yet Centre fails to take any action even though its top leaders like Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, other Union Ministers like Gen VK Singh, Dr Mahesh Sharma, Satya Pal Singh, etc BJP national President Amit Shah and many others have time and again reiterated their support for a bench of high court in West UP but even after completion of more than 4 years we are yet to see any concrete action being taken on this count!

It is no secret that for lawless state like UP whom former UN Secretary General Ban ki moon termed as 'rape and crime capital of India' only one bench has been created and that too by Nehru way back in 1948 on July 1 at Lucknow which is just about 200 km away from Allahabad where high court itself is located and after that no bench created in last more than 70 years anywhere till now even as 2018 draws to a close! It is no secret that the people of 26 districts of West UP are compelled to travel all the way to Allahabad which averages a distance of about 700 to 750 km many times without reservation whole night and still no bench has ever been created here even though Assam has 4 benches, Maharashtra earlier had 3 at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Panaji and now fourth created at Kolhapur for just 6 districts and similarly Karnataka which earlier had one bench was given 2 more benches for just 4 and 8 districts at Dharwad and Gulbarga in 2008 itself! It is no secret that even for an island like Andaman and Nicobar where population is just about 3 lakh Centre gave them bench but not for west UP!

It is no secret that even Lahore high court in Pakistan is nearer to West UP as compared to Allahabad and the high court or benches of 8 states are closer to West UP as compared to Allahabad still no bench created here in last 70 years! It is no secret that West UP is notorious for worst types of crimes against women still no bench here! It is no secret that even as I am writing this, a women named Mausam was shot in broad daylight by first firing two bullets and then third to ensure that she died in Shamli which is a district in West UP!

It is no secret that repeatedly women are either murdered or raped or acid are thrown on them and even men and politicians also are not safe in West UP still there is no high court bench in West UP! It is no secret that just like former BSP MLA Haji Aleem was found dead in mysterious circumstances in Bulandshahr similarly leaders keep getting killed in different parts of West UP yet no bench here! It is no secret that just recently a woman doctor named Sarlanath was murdered in Indirapuram in Sahibabad in her clinic itself as criminals know that West UP having no bench, it will take decades for cases to be decided and high court being so far away, the victims families will get dejected and depressed after seeing the case pending for many decades! It is no secret that even hospitals and highways and house itself are not safe for not just women but for anyone as criminals know that there is just one bench in UP at Lucknow and not anywhere else and so it will take many decades before the case is finally decided!

It is no secret that former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself raised the legitimate demand for a high court bench in West UP in Parliament when he was Opposition leader way back in 1986! It is no secret that it was way back in 1955 that Sampoornanand had recommended a high court bench to be created in 1955 at Meerut but Centre did not accept! It is no secret that even ND Tiwari who died recently had as CM recommended for a high court bench in West UP but Centre declined! It is no secret that many other UP CM like Rajnath Singh had also recommended for a high court bench to be created in West UP still not a single bench was created!

It is no secret that maximum riots take place in West UP still not a single bench here! It is no secret that the more than 9 crore people of West UP are being subjected to the worst discrimination by politicians by first agreeing that West UP strongly deserves a bench and later not creating a single bench here even while creating more benches for peaceful states like Karnataka for just 4 or 8 districts! It is no secret that Allahabad high court is biggest in whole of Asia and yet has just one bench which is very close to Allahabad and not a single bench created anywhere else even though Union Ministers like Satyapal Singh had demanded the creation of 5 benches at Meerut, Agra, Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Varanasi!

It is no secret that UP sends maximum MPs to Parliament, maximum MLAs to Vihan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad, maximum Mayors, maximum elected representatives and has maximum districts, maximum villages more than one lakh and above all maximum pending cases still has just one bench and no effort made to create even a single bench even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended bench for West UP! It is no secret that the local newspapers of West UP are flooded with crime reports still a single bench exists at Lucknow since 1948 for just 12 districts but for 26 districts of West UP not a single bench created till now even as 2019 is fast approaching! Most hurting!