The establishment of two Benches of the High Court of Karnataka at Dharwad and Kalaburagi has created awareness of legal rights amongst the people of North Karnataka and led to an increase in number of both civil and criminal cases instituted every year since establishment of the two Benches in 2008, the court said.
“The establishment of Benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi should not be construed as an investment for returns at all, but should only be taken as “Pro Bono Publico [for public good] measure. In fact lakhs of people are benefited by the establishment of the Benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi and the people of North Karnataka are happy as the court is established at their doorsteps and as a result, the litigants need not travel long distances spending huge expenses,” the court observed.
A Division Bench comprising Justice B. Veerappa and Justice K.S. Hemalekha made these observations while rejecting a PIL petition filed in 2014 by city-based advocate Amruthesh N.P.
The petitioner had questioned the legality of establishment of circuit Benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi in 2008 and later making them permanent Benches in 2014. The petitioner had also sought a direction for conducting performance audit, including financial audit regarding investment, expenditure and functional viability of the two Benches.
“As the High Court came to their doorsteps, the awareness of legal rights has increased among the residents of North Karnataka and accordingly, the litigants approached the court with great expectation for speedy and qualitative justice,” the Bench observed.
“The petitioner had filed the petition against the “will of public at large,” especially against the residents of northern Karnataka as the petitioner is the resident of Bengaluru. Without knowing the topography, problems faced by the public at large the present writ petition is filed for his personal glory and gain,” said Justice Veerappa, who authored the judgment.
The Bench, from the official data, pointed that during the inception of circuit Benches in 2008, there were 20,766 cases (18,401 civil and 2,365 criminal cases) pending in the Dharwad Bench and a total 8,163 cases (7,301 civil cases and 862 criminal cases) were pending in the Kalaburagi Bench.
However, as on February 28, 2023, there were 58,586 cases (51,946 civil and 6,640 criminal cases) pending in Dharwad Bench and a total 25,606 cases (23,898 civil and 1,708 criminal) were pending in the Kalaburagi Bench, and this data indicates sharp rise in filling of cases before these two Benches, the Bench pointed out.
