If we jog our memory a little back, we can recall how even the then former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon while he was UN Secretary General had slammed UP as rape and crime capital of India! At first blush, even a layman can point out effortlessly that which State in India needs multiple High Court Benches and which State needs maximum High Court Benches! Still we see that UP which is most populated State of India with maximum pending cases and Rajasthan which is largest State areawise have only one Bench at Lucknow and Jaipur respectively and lawless Bihar has none!

This in my view is the biggest slap on the face of Constitution and what befuddles me most is that Uttarakhand as long as it formed part of UP was denied even a single Bench even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge appointed by Centre itself in mid 1970s most strongly recommended maximum High Court Benches for undivided UP with two Circuit Benches in hilly areas in Nainital and Dehradun yet not created and when people agitated hugely as they had to travel thousands of kilometers all the way till Allahabad to seek justice then separate High Court given about 25 years ago on November 9, 2000 at Nainital! We also saw how a main permanent High Court Bench was recommended by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission for West UP about 50 years ago yet not created till date even in May 2025!

One is totally clueless as to why Centre and concerned States are not taking meaningful and decisive steps to create more High Court Benches even though the 230th Report of Law Commission of India in 2009 most strongly advocated for creation of more High Court Benches in States and yet only few elite States like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam have multiple High Court Benches? No wonder, in the India Justice Report 2025 that was released on April 14, 2025, we see that States like Karnataka with population of just 6 crore having multiple High Court Benches with Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts only created in 2008 rank among the best States right on top and West UP with 30 districts and more than 10 crore people not even a single Bench and UP with more than 25 crore population which is more than Pakistan has just one Bench and it is a no-brainer that it has been listed in worst category just like lawless Bihar and Rajasthan among others! Five south states rank among top performers as for just 3.5 crore people of Telangana, separate High Court created on June 2, 2014 and so also for Andhra Pradesh with just 4 crore population and we know that Andhra Pradesh Assembly just recently approved a High Court Bench in Kurnool but for Punjab and Haryana there is no separate High Court for both the States and so no wonder it figures in middle performer category states!

By any reckoning, there cannot be ever a bigger tragedy than this that for 78 years of independence we see that West UP has been denied even a single High Court Bench even though it is West UP which owes for majority of the pending cases of UP which is highest not just in UP but is also highest in any other region of India yet mercilessly deprived from having even a single High Court Bench which is undoubtedly most disastrous! What is even most worst is that the litigants of 30 districts of West UP have been most atrociously attached with not even Lucknow where a High Court Bench exists since July 1948 in Eastern UP but attached most stupidly with Allahabad which is more than 250 km away from even Lucknow which means the poorest litigants of 30 districts of West UP have to spend more and travel whole night and nearly a day by train to attend court hearings which is plainly unconstitutional just like litigants of hilly areas of undivided UP had to travel thousands of kilometers all the way again till Allahabad in true dictatorial style making the worst mockery of our Constitution and so also of poorest litigants till Uttar Pradesh was partitioned and this was the major reason which political parties never like to concede! The trials and tribulations that litigants of West UP have to face due to no Bench in this region even though majority of pending cases are from West UP are simply unending yet most atrociously we see that Centre has done absolutely just nothing to resolve it and media too has utterly failed to highlight it effectively!

The bogey that West UP needs no Bench needs to be debunked! Rather I will ask: What was the dire need for a High Court Bench in Lucknow so near to Allahabad where High Court itself is located yet it has High Court since July 1, 1948? The point to reflect on is: How long will West UP be deprived from having even a single Bench?

With a very heavy heart, I want to say that Centre has been most biased in denying West UP even a single Bench! You don’t need a telescope to see that which State should have maximum High Court Benches as it is the most populated State of India with maximum number of pending cases! How long will Supreme Court be in hibernation mode on this count? It has to be acknowledged with grace that denial of even a single High Court Bench to West UP which owes for majority of pending cases of UP which is also highest for any region in India is not only dangerous and deleterious but also most disastrous, most despicable and most discriminatory!

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 11 lakh in Allahabad High Court 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 May 2025 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? Much water has flown down the bridge since India became independent in 1947 but the most stark truth is that even nearly 80 years later in May 2025, we see that West UP is without a High Court Bench which is definitely most deplorable, most dangerous, most self destructive, most divisive and most discriminatory and yet most perplexing is that even Supreme Court has dared not to ever intervene even when UP was completely undivided! Why Supreme Court has tolerated such dastardly discrimination in distribution of High Court Benches in different States and in different regions which directly pertains to judiciary when it cannot tolerate cheating in Mayor elections as we saw it taking suo motu cognizance in Chandigarh some time back?

Why is Centre so ambivalent and inimical in taking any proactive step that goes a long way in resolving this key issue at the earliest? One can’t fathom that why Centre has behaved so partially, so irrationally and so undemocratically that the most populated State of India with maximum number of pending cases was given only one Bench and that too very close to Allahabad itself and worst of all attached litigants of West UP and hilly areas of undivided UP with not even Lucknow which is more than 230 km earlier but right uptill Allahabad as if India was still being ruled by colonial Britishers with even Lahore in Pakistan closer to West UP as compared to Allahabad High Court? This is exactly that has led to catastrophic results and culminated in partition of UP into UP and Uttarakhand in 2000! Will any democratic country behave in such autocratic manner?

Is this democratic or autocratic style of functioning? Centre’s approach in this regard in last nearly 80 years has been most diabolically outrageous and has to be most strongly condemned! Why these elected representatives are behaving like monarchs depriving the people from having easy and affordable justice at doorsteps is truly incomprehensible? But yes I must concede and be on same page with eminent journalist Tavleen Singh who in her enlightening editorial titled Investment needed in people published in The Sunday Express newspaper dated March 16, 2025 points out and concedes that:
In fairness to Narendra Modi, it must be said that since he became Prime Minister the speed at which roads, ports, airports and other vital infrastructure is being built has been truly remarkable. But in the same vein, I will hasten to add that why so miserliness when it comes to creating High Court Benches and why in last about 11 years in power, we see that not even a single High Court Bench has been created in any State? When will this drought on Bench end especially in UP, Bihar and Rajasthan?

Why Centre favours unjustified discrimination on this count? The most ticklish question is: Why Centre fails to display political will power to address this long pending issue? One has to say with extreme dismay that Centre has always tried to play safe and has not taken any interest nor demonstrated any political will in resolving this Bench issue prolonging it foolishly for nearly 80 years which is nothing but absolute stupidity of the highest order!

The 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! What needs to be watched out is how Centre now adopts a new approach or keeps treading on the lame path of forwarding one pretext or the other to justify denial of even a single Bench to West UP! How long will the litigants of West UP be made scapegoat?

Why has plain logic taken a backseat in West UP being most mercilessly deprived from having even a single Bench is the best and clear indicator that there is certainly more to it than meets the eye? This is just not done and is outright most blatant partiality and cheating which even Supreme Court most lamentably has failed to take suo motu cognizance of while it spares no time in taking suo motu cognizance of cheating in a Mayor election as we saw in Chandigarh! This directly concerns judiciary itself yet we see no action taken on it! Eminent jurist and Supreme Court lawyer – Late Mr Fali Sam Nariman once very rightly said that:
What’s the use of our Constitution without liberal Judges?

Why is Centre so unaccountably stubborn on such a key issue of setting up a High Court Bench in West UP and why it keeps blaming Governor for not giving sanction who cannot be above Constitution nor can Chief Minister be nor can Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court be nor can Chief Justice of India be? An even more bigger question is: For how long will Centre remain so hell bent in denying West UP even a single Bench which owes for maximum pending cases in any region of India? What knocks me off completely is to see how irrationally and most discriminatingly West UP has been deprived from having even a single High Court Bench in last nearly 80 years of independence! When High Court can be given for Uttarakhand for whom Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended just two Circuit Benches then why West UP for whom permanent seat of High Court Bench recommended yet not even a single Circuit Bench created till date? Where is Supreme Court sleeping and when it can single out discrimination in an election of Mayor in Chandigarh as we saw some time back then why on an issue directly concerning judiciary, it has never bothered to take any initiative in holding Centre and State of UP to account?

What message went out by complete astounding inaction of the Supreme Court on this count? It was that Supreme Court just like Centre favours this most sinister, senseless and shameless discrimination perpetrated against different States and different regions and has left everything on this directly concerning judiciary to Centre that it should have last word on it as held in November 2018 by the Bench led by the then CJI Mr Ranjan Gogoi while listening to a PIL filed by women lawyer KR Chitra and appreciating the dire need for a Bench but yet dismissing it leaving the ball in Centre’s court who since last nearly 80 years has been sleeping most comfortably on such a sensitive issue due to which lawyers of West UP have been agitating and going on strike every Saturday since last nearly 50 years yet to no avail and so also strike some times for even 6 months as in 2001 and in 2014-15 in my time in Meerut, what to talk about the past when lawyers even went on hunger strike in 1976 for more than a month and so many padyatras! It is the livelihood of practising lawyers that gets affected most when they go on strike and it is the practising lawyers of West UP who are the driving force behind such sacred agitation for the benefit of the litigants and it is for litigants that they want a High Court Bench in West UP which Centre is overzealous to deny on one flimsy ground or other which is definitely most condemnable! Most disgusting and most degrading indeed!

My point is very clear: This definitely cannot continue endlessly! What I find really most troubling and demoralizing is that this key issue directly pertains to judiciary and is a grave violation of what is envisaged in Article 14 about equality in Constitution yet Apex Court also has most astoundingly desisted in last nearly 80 years of independence in taking a proactive stand on it and in ensuring that West UP has a High Court Bench! But I still nurture a glimmer of hope that someday it will definitely speak up candidly on this also just like it spoke recently on more than half of the Judges seat in Allahabad High Court lying vacant!

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