STATUS OF HIGH COURT
BENCHES
The permanent Benches
of High Courts, away from their principal seats, have been established
in eleven States so far. These are Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan,
Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
There is no separate
High Court for Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Meghalaya,Manipur,Mizoram,
Nagaland and Tripura. In Union Territories, there is no High Court
except at Delhi. Principal Seats of High Courts are set up if
there is a separate High Court.
In the scheme of
the Constitution, it is not necessary that every State should
have a High Court.
Meanwhile, the Centre
has received requests from Governments of Gujarat, Karnataka and
Uttar Pradesh for setting up of Benches outside the principal
seats of their High Courts. The Chief Justices of these High Courts
have, however, rejected such proposals stating that it would not
be in the interest of the institution to have Regional Benches.
They have also stated that these would affect their administrative
and financial cohesiveness. Without the approval of the Chief
Justices, Regional or Circuit Benches of High Courts cannot be
set up.Presently, Benches of the Madras High Court at Madurai
and of the Calcutta High Court at Jalpaiguri are underway.
