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Union Law Minister Must Ensure That A HC Bench Is Created In West UP Also
The relentless denial of a High Court Bench to West UP for 80 years is an incomprehensible injustice, making a mockery of the Constitution.
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It is good to see that the Union Cabinet has finally decided to establish a High Court Bench in Ladakh as disclosed by Home Minister Amit Shah on August 20, 2026 which is primarily aimed at improving the access to justice in the Union Territory thus reaffirming the Centre’s commitment to ensuring Constitutional safeguards and the all-round development in the Ladakh region. But it is completely unfathomable why the Centre, after 80 years of independence, remains spinelessly unprepared to concede even a single permanent High Court Bench to West UP, not even a Circuit Bench. This is truly incomprehensible and leaves me aghast. Ladakh has 7 districts originally had just 2 districts and expanded to 7 in April 2026 and West UP has 30 districts and more than 10 crore people! There is not even a shred of evidence that can ever justify in any manner the relentless denial of a High Court Bench to West UP for the last 80 years.
It must be said unhesitatingly: If Ladakh deserves a High Court Bench then so does West UP also deserves the same yet most unfairly it has been denied the same! The case that I am making is for setting aside past monumental Himalayan blunder of Centre depriving West UP from having even a single Bench which is inexplicable! A high delegation of senior lawyers from Meerut met the Union Law Minister Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal recently in this regard comprising of President of Meerut Bar Association – Mr Anuj Sharma and General Secretary of Meerut Bar Association – Mr Parvez Alam among others who too reassured them that it will be addressed soon but how long? It is litigants and especially victims of crime who are suffering the most due to inexplicable inordinate delay in setting up of a High Court Bench in West UP! Why national media and national news channels never dare or bother to report fearlessly on this most atrocious discrimination that has been perpetrated so mercilessly in distribution of High Courts and High Court Benches and High Court Circuit Benches in different States and different regions so relentlessly with impunity since 80 years of independence? Silence to injustice is the biggest sin in this world and so also tolerance of injustice is a threat to justice everywhere and so it should never be tolerated!
What is even more astounding and heart wrenching to note is that Lucknow which is so close to Allahabad High Court has a High Court Bench and that too permanent seat for very few districts just 8 which has been functioning since July 1948 that is less than a year after independence but for 30 districts of West UP with more than 10 crore people the same Centre is just not ready to concede even a single Bench not even a Circuit Bench and most shamelessly is dilly-dallying it on one pretext or the other which makes absolutely just no sense at all! This despite the most irrefutable fact that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Apex Court Judge appointed by Centre itself recommended a permanent seat of High Court Bench in West UP about 50 years ago as West UP owes for majority of the pending cases of Allahabad High Court and this was conceded also by Commission and so also contributes maximum to State economy yet not even a Circuit Bench created anywhere in any of the 30 districts of West UP due to which litigants and victims have the bear the worst brunt! How can this be ever justified on any pretext whatsoever?
Who is guiding Centre to deprive West UP from having not just 2 High Court Benches as demanded by its own MPs but even a single Bench not even a Circuit Bench? All I can say is: Centre should stop pouring cold water on the most legitimate and most compelling demand for a High Court Bench in West UP! Let’s face it: Centre has been hugely partial in denying West UP most unjustly even a single Circuit Bench even though it deserves High Court itself as it owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court and has more population than majority of States with 30 districts!
What leaves me completely flabbergasted is to see how ruthlessly Centre has most openly chosen to ride roughshod over the most legitimate and compelling demand of High Court Bench in West UP which makes for most depressing reading! What is even more baffling to note is that while Centre did not allow even one High Court Bench in undivided UP even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended three High Court Benches – a permanent seat in West UP and two Circuit Benches in hilly areas of undivided UP which culminated in partition of Uttar Pradesh 26 years ago as people started huge agitations due to its non-implementation and many sacrificed their precious lives and then same Centre conceded separate Statehood itself named Uttarakhand with population of just about 88 lakh people then and separate High Court and separate Capital – no Punjab and Haryana formula of same High Court and same Capital! If Centre had ensured creation of two Circuit Benches in hilly areas of undivided UP, UP would never have been partitioned! This shows the utter contempt with which Centre has treated West UP and hilly areas of undivided UP until people of hilly areas took to streets and many sacrificed their precious lives!
Worst part is: Neither press highlighted it nor Apex Court ever dared to take suo motu cognizance of it! Eminent and senior advocate and former Judge of Delhi High Court and former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court – Hon’ble Mr Justice (Retd) S Muralidhar very rightly opined that, “If court themselves and their processes turn into sites of oppression, it will undermine the faith of the people in the justice system and its ability to deliver fair and equal justice.” It is an incontrovertible fact that West UP should have been bestowed High Court Bench since 1947 as it owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court but even as 2047 is fast approaching, we see most disappointingly that Centre appears in just no mood to relent and top court too not taking suo motu cognizance of it while Eastern UP has High Court Bench in Lucknow since July 1948 so close to Allahabad High Court!
Why Apex Court never steps in to check misuse of unbridled power of Centre to discriminate most mercilessly between different States and different regions in distribution of High Court Benches most mercilessly which is worst butchering of Article 14 as enshrined in Article 14 of Constitution? The point that I am trying to underscore here is: How long will such a most pressing issue be kept in limbo by Centre? What hobbles, hackles and harangues my mind is that why Centre is most dead determined never to allow even a single Bench in West UP with more than 10 crore people when it can ensure that States like Karnataka with just 6 crore people have High Court and multiple High Court Benches? Why 230th Report of Law Commission of India has not been implemented uniformly all across India even after 17 years of its report being submitted?
On a more serious note, common sense dictates that West UP must have two High Court Benches as demanded by ruling party BJP MP Laxmikant Vajpayee in Parliament two times this year in 2026 at Meerut and Agra and so also in 2016 by ruling party former Union Minister Dr Satyapal Singh in Parliament at again Meerut and Agra! Even former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee also demanded High Court Bench in West UP at Meerut in 1986 as Leader of Opposition which is all on record! Dr BR Ambedkar had recommended separate Statehood itself for West UP just like former UP CM Mayawati among others! How long will the sword of uncertainty loom large over most pressing issue of creation of a High Court Bench in West UP?
Broadly speaking, the most fundamental question that one must ask here is: How is the conscious of Centre permitting it since last 80 years of independence to discriminate so brutally, brazenly and blindly which is making an open mockery of our Constitution and is a “national shame” and “national disgrace” that cannot be ever justified on shallow objections? How long will West UP be demonized by being denied even a single High Court Bench and so also a single Circuit Bench? Till 2047 when India will celebrate its 100 years of independence! Why Centre has made an “open and shut” case into an intractable case? How long will Centre shrug off from its shoulders the blame that it actually deserves for pulling out all stops to deprive West UP from having even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench most spinelessly?
One is constrained to observe that denying West UP even a single Bench not even a Circuit Bench is the “worst travesty of justice” which puts on dock the whole life of litigants and their families for no fault of others! The irony could not have been more starker and more murkier! It is West UP which ideally should have been vested with High Court itself as majority of the pending cases of Uttar Pradesh are from West UP which is all on record yet what is most astounding to watch is that it has not even a single High Court Bench permanent seat and what is most worst of all is to see that it has not even a single High Court Circuit Bench! It is known all too well even though many still don’t know that a permanent seat of High Court Bench for Lucknow in Central UP for just very few districts not even in double digits when created way back in July 1948 so close to Allahabad High Court without dishing any frivolous excuses like we have been seeing since last more than five decades for West UP with 30 districts and more than 10 crore people which is maximum districts among all regions of UP and owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court and as if this was not enough contributes maximum to State’s economy about 75 to 80 percent and the reward it has got is not even a single permanent seat of High Court Bench in West UP nor even a Circuit Bench in West UP! To top it all, the litigants of West UP have been attached with not even Lucknow which falls much earlier but right uptill Allahabad which is 230 km far away from even Lucknow which is biggest betrayal of Constitution, biggest national disgrace and deepest burial of justice and worst mockery of poorest litigants of 30 districts of West UP and hilly areas of undivided UP as long as it formed part of UP which made practically just no sense at all and culminated in most unfortunate partition of Uttar Pradesh 26 years ago as people had to travel thousands of kilometers all the way till Allahabad and even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge appointed by Centre itself recommended about 50 years ago two Circuit Benches for hilly areas of undivided UP at Dehradun and Nainital yet not even a single created most atrociously just like a permanent seat of High Court Bench recommended for West UP at Agra yet not even a Circuit Bench created anywhere till date! Only time will tell when the endless wait for even a single High Court Bench in West UP ever end? Former Attorney General of India – Late Soli J Sorabjee had in his capacity as Attorney General had said that, “Centre is empowered to create a High Court Bench in West UP without any recommendation from the Chief Justice or Chief Minister or anyone else in this regard.” Former President of Supreme Court Bar Association MN Krishnamani had very categorically stated that, “Only by the creation of a Bench of High Court in West UP will the people be able to secure justice.”
We saw how Centre gave separate statehood itself with separate High Court at Hyderabad to Telangana with just 3.5 crore people in June 2014 and so also earlier also to many States like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh among others whose population is more than 6 or 7 crore less than West UP and still have separate High Court! Karnataka with just 6 crore people were given two High Court Benches for just 4 and 8 districts at Dharwad and Gulbarga in 2008 itself and now Bench recommended for Mangaluru by State Government for just 3 districts! How long will Centre pat itself on the back that UP which tops state list in having maximum number of pending cases among all the States has just one High Court Bench created 78 years ago so close to Allahabad High Court at Lucknow where it was just not needed at all and nowhere else not even when UP was undivided even though West UP owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court?
How can Centre gloss over that in a startling revelation, the Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal revealed in July 2026 that while Apex Court had 26 cases pending for more than 30 years, the 25 High Courts together had 80,660 such cases. Most strikingly and most alarmingly, we see that it was disclosed that Allahabad High Court alone accounted for 53,787 cases of them – nearly two out of every three cases pending for over three decades in nation’s High Courts. The figure based on the National Judicial Data Grid as on July 16, 2026 also shows that the Allahabad High Court has the highest overall pendency among all High Courts at 1.22 million cases owing for roughly one-fifth of the total pendency across all 25 High Courts. Of these, 161,000 have been pending for more than 20 years, 488,000 for over 10 years and 730,000 for more than five years. While Allahabad High Court accounts for roughly one-fifth of the total pendency across all 25 High Courts (1.22 million out of 6.47 million cases), it alone houses around 67% of all cases pending for over 30 years, more than one third of cases older than 20 years and about 30% of all cases pending for over a decade. Here too it is West UP which alone owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court!
The point being made here is that it is Centre which most unscrupulously has been acting as the biggest stumbling block for creation of High Court Bench in West UP on one pretext or the other which has only served to portray it in poor light just like being the biggest litigator has denigrated its reputation. How long will Centre keep sabotaging and keep deferring the most compelling and most legitimate demand for a High Court Bench in West UP on one pretext or the other? Centre’s decision to deprive West UP from having even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench is bereft of any logic and so the blame lies squarely on shoulders of Centre. For the exclusive benefit and indulgence of my esteemed readers, let me now lay bare that Uttar Pradesh falls in how many regions or economic divisions and districts included in them. They are as follows:-
Western Division (Paschimanchal – 30 districts) – Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Rampur, Budaun, Mathura, Etah, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Firozabad, Agra, Mainpuri, Baghpat, Meerut, Amroha, Moradabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Hathras, Aligarh, Kannauj, Farrukhabad, Auraiya, Etawah, Kasganj, Hapur, Sambhal and Shamli.
Central Division (Madhyanchal – 10 districts) – Lakhimpur Kheri, Hardoi, Sitapur, Barabanki, Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar and Fatehpur.
Bundelkhand Division (7 districts) – Mahoba, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot, Banda, Jalaun, Jhansi and Lalitpur.
Eastern Division (Purvanchal – 28 districts) – Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Mau, Azamgarh, Ballia, Bhadohi, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Balrampur, Gonda, Chandauli, Shravasti, Bahraich, Sant Kabir Nagar, Sultanpur, Ghazipur, Pratapgarh and Amethi.
(Source: Sam Samayik Ghatna Chakra Uttar Pradesh At A Glance 2026 on page 81 published from Allahabad)
I am completely fed up and most utterly disgusted to see since last 25 years that I have been in Meerut in West UP how the lawyers of West UP have been most relentlessly and most dedicatedly agitating for the most sacred, most legitimate and most compelling demand for creation of a High Court Bench in West UP but to no avail! The lawyers of West UP went on complete strike for 6 months sacrificing their own livelihood when I just landed in Meerut in 2001 for creation of a High Court Bench in West UP and again for 6 months in 2014-15 apart from strike every Saturday since last more than 45 years and many times even on Wednesday some years ago apart from so many other meetings for creation of High Court Bench in West UP still no action we witnessed on ground most astoundingly!
It is hard not to conclude that Centre has been most deadly biased and has left no stone unturned to ensure that West UP is deprived from having even a single High Court Bench not even a Circuit Bench while simultaneously not allowing even an year to pass after independence to create a single High Court Bench for whole of undivided UP at Lucknow so close to Allahabad High Court in July 1948 and worst of all attached litigants of 30 districts of West UP and hilly areas of undivided UP with not even Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad! One can safely say that the curtains need to be brought down on this long lingering most pressing issue! Why Centre finds itself in a predicament in an “open and shut” case like this?
If one look at the whole picture, we see that it reflects a far deeper malaise which now no more can be hidden from public gaze any longer. How long will Centre keep downplaying and stonewalling the most legitimate and compelling demand for a High Court Bench in West UP and so also in Orissa and Bihar and some other States? This is clearly a stark reminder of how much Centre discriminates most ruthlessly yet is never held accountable even by top court! Why Apex Court never takes Centre to task for it?
How long will Supreme Court abjectly keep playing second fiddle in front of Centre and keep giving unfettered licence to most horrendously and most mercilessly discriminate and perpetrate most atrocious discrimination perpetrated in distribution of High Courts and High Court Benches and High Court Circuit Benches in different States and different regions? Not a single High Court Judge of Allahabad High Court or Patna High Court or Jodhpur High Court or Cuttack High Court or Ahmedabad High Court among others nor even any Judge of Supreme Court has ever dared to take suo motu cognizance of this most merciless butchering of equality as enshrined in Article 14 of Constitution! Biggest insane person on earth in his/her right senses will definitely never endorse what Congress and BJP have done who have ruled in Centre that just one High Court Bench for most populated State of India with maximum number of pending cases and that too so close to Allahabad High Court at Lucknow way back in July 1948 and deprived West UP from having not even a single High Court Bench not even a single High Court Circuit Bench which owes for majority of pending cases of Allahabad High Court which is all on record and has more than 10 crore people and 30 districts and so also attached litigants of 30 districts of West UP and hilly areas of undivided UP with not even Lucknow but right uptill Allahabad which culminated in partition of Uttar Pradesh 26 years ago in which so many people sacrificed their lives and yet Supreme Court never dared to take suo motu cognizance of non-implementation of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommendations headed by former Supreme Court Judge appointed by Centre itself which recommended maximum 3 High Court Benches for undivided UP – two High Court Circuit Benches in Dehradun and Nainital and a permanent seat of High Court Bench in West UP yet not even one created anywhere which is a national disgrace and Maharashtra which already had multiple High Court Benches at Nagpur and Panaji one more created at Aurangabad as recommended within a very short span of time in mid 1980s itself for just 7 districts then and now one more fifth High Court Bench approved for just 6 districts at Kolhapur which started functioning from August 18, 2025 without any recommendations from any Commission but in UP not a single Bench created in last 78 years and so also lawless Bihar has none and Rajasthan only one and Orissa and Gujarat none and Centre has equipped only five elite States – Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Assam and Madhya Pradesh with multiple High Court Benches most astoundingly leaving prominent big States like UP, Rajasthan, lawless Bihar out from the elite club!
It must be definitely asked upfront: Why no Judge of Supreme Court ever dares to openly speak out on it? Most bone chillingly, even the Supreme Court in last 80 years of independence has never dared to take suo motu cognizance of it and even the press which is considered the fourth pillar of Indian democracy including newspapers and news channels also maintains a conspicuous inexplicable deafening silence on it and hardly ever accords any prime coverage to it! The most troubling question that crops up here is: Why is Centre just not willing and ready to address it? Centre must stop dishing lame excuses and address it like it did last year in Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra for just 6 districts and now in Ladakh for just 7 districts! No denying or disputing it!
Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Rift.
*High Court BenchAllahabad High CourtArticle 14Judicial PendencyJudicial ReformJustice Jaswant Singh CommissionUttar PradeshWest UP
