Lok Sabha Question No. 658 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-06
Subject: Regional Bench of SC and HC
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL, ARJUNLAL MEENA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 658

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 06.02.2019

## Regional Bench of SC and HC

658.  SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL SHRI ARJUN LAL MEENA:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state :

- a) whether the Government has received proposals from various State Governments for setting up of Regional Benches of Supreme Court and High Courts in their respective States;
- b) if so, the details thereof and the status of the proposals received till date State-wise including Rajasthan;
- c)  the details of the criteria adopted by the Government for setting up of additional Benches of High Court in the States; and
- d) the number of such benches set up so far and number of Benches proposed to be set up in the country, State-wise?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) to (c): No proposal has been received from State Governments for setting up of Regional Benches of Supreme Court. However, representations have been received at various times from various quarters

for  establishment  of  Benches  of  Supreme  Court  in  various  parts  of  the country. The Law Commission, in its 229th Report had also suggested that a Constitutional Bench be set up at Delhi and four Cassation Benches be set up  at Delhi, Chennai/ Hyderabad,  Kolkata and  Mumbai. The idea of a separate Bench of Supreme Court outside Delhi has not found favour with the Supreme Court of India.

High Court Benches are established in accordance with the recommendations made by the Jaswant Singh Commission and judgment pronounced by the Apex Court in W.P.(C) No.379 of 2000 and after due consideration of a complete proposal from the State Government and the Chief  Justice  of  the  concerned  High  Court  alongwith  the  consent  of  the Governor  of  the  concerned  State.  The  State  Government  has  to  provide necessary infrastructural  facilities  to  establish  a  Bench  of  the  High  Court away from its principal seat and to bear the entire expenditure of the High Court and its Bench. The Chief Justice of the High Court is required to look after  the  day-today  administration  of  the  High  Court  and  its  Bench  and depute  Judges  from  the  Principal  Seat  to  Bench  from  time-to-time.  It  is, therefore,  necessary that both the State Government and the High Court consider the matter from all angles and arrive at a consensus.

Requests for establishment of High Court Benches in different parts of  the  country  have  been  received  from  various  sources  including  some State  Governments.  However,  at  present  there  is  no  complete  proposal including  from the State of Rajasthan that is  pending for consideration of the Central Government.

(d):  A  statement  showing  Benches  of  High  Courts  State-wise  is  at Annexure .

## Annexure

A  statement  showing the High Courts and their Benches State-wise referred to in reply to part (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 658 to be answered on 06.02.2019

|   Sl. No. | High Court(States)       | Principal Seat   | Jurisdiction                                         | Permanent Bench and Date from which the Bench began functioning   |
|-----------|--------------------------|------------------|------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Allahabad(Uttar Pradesh) | Allahabad        | Uttar Pradesh                                        | Lucknow (01.07.1948)                                              |
|         2 | Andhra Pradesh           | Amaravati        | Andhra Pradesh                                       | -                                                                 |
|         3 | Telangana                | Hyderabad        | Telangana                                            | -                                                                 |
|         4 | Bombay(Maharashtr a)     | Mumbai           | Maharashtra; Goa; Daman & Diu; Dadra & Nagar Haveli; | Nagpur (01.05.1960), Panaji (01.07.1948), Aurangabad (27.08.1984) |
|         5 | Calcutta(West Bengal)    | Kolkata          | West Bengal & Andaman & Nicobar Islands              | -                                                                 |
|         6 | Chattisgarh              | Bilaspur         | Chattisgarh                                          | -                                                                 |
|         7 | Delhi(NCT of Delhi)      | New Delhi        | NCT of Delhi                                         | -                                                                 |
|         8 | Gauhati(Assam)           | Guwahati         | Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram & Arunachal Pradesh         | Kohima (10.02.1990), Aizawl (05.07.1990) , Itanagar (12.08.2000)  |
|         9 | Gujarat                  | Sola (Ahmedabad) | Gujarat                                              | -                                                                 |
|        10 | Himachal Pradesh         | Shimla           | Himachal Pradesh                                     | -                                                                 |
|        11 | Jammu & Kashmir          | Jammu &          | Jammu &                                              | -                                                                 |

|    |                    | Srinagar          | Kashmir                      |                                              |
|----|--------------------|-------------------|------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| 12 | Jharkhand          | Ranchi            | Jharkhand                    | -                                            |
| 13 | Karnataka          | Bangalore         | Karnataka                    | Dharwad (24.08.2013) , Gulbarga (31.08.2013) |
| 14 | Kerala             | Ernakulam (Kochi) | Kerala & Lakshadweep Islands | -                                            |
| 15 | Madhya Pradesh     | Jabalpur          | Madhya Pradesh               | Gwalior (01.11.1956), Indore (01.11.1956)    |
| 16 | Madras(Tamil Nadu) | Chennai           | Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry     | Madurai (24.07.2004)                         |
| 17 | Orissa             | Cuttack           | Orissa                       | -                                            |
| 18 | Patna(Bihar)       | Patna             | Bihar                        | -                                            |
| 19 | Punjab & Haryana   | Chandigarh        | Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh | -                                            |
| 20 | Rajasthan          | Jodhpur           | Rajasthan                    | Jaipur (31.01.1977)                          |
| 21 | Sikkim             | Gangtok           | Sikkim                       | -                                            |
| 22 | Uttarakhand        | Nainital          | Uttarakhand                  | -                                            |
| 23 | Manipur            | Imphal            | Manipur                      |                                              |
| 24 | Meghalaya          | Shillong          | Meghalaya                    |                                              |
| 25 | Tripura            | Agartala          | Tripura                      |                                              |