a) whether the Government is planning to establish High Court Benches in various States including Uttar Pradesh;
b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
c) the criteria adopted/formalities required by the Government for establishment of these Benches; and
d) the details of the States where such Benches have already been established?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) to (d) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 224 FOR ANSWER ON 4th DECEMBER, 2019
(a) to (d): 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, Bench(es) of the High Court are established after due consideration of a complete proposal from the State Government incorporating readiness to provide infrastructure and meet the expenditure, along with the consent of the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court who is authorized to look after day to day administration of the High Court and its Bench. The proposal should also have the consent of the Governor of the concerned State.
No complete proposal has been received from the any State Government including that of Uttar Pradesh to establish a High Court Bench.
A statement showing the High Courts and their respective Benches is attached at Annexure.
***
Annexure
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 (01.01.2019) Amaravati Andhra Pradesh -
3. Telangana Hyderabad Telangana -
4. Bombay(Maharashtra) 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 (i) Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri vide Presidential Order dated 7th February, 2019.
(ii) Circuit Bench at Port Blair.
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. High Court for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh (as per Jammu & Kashmir reorganization Act, 09.08.2019) Jammu & Srinagar Jammu & Kashmir (UT), Ladakh(UT) -
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