Supreme Court and High Court Bench

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 &	–

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