Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has demanded a separate High Court for Haryana. He also wants representation on the existing Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, an additional Bench for the southern-western districts, and Central assistance of Rs.541 crore for beefing up the judicial infrastructure in the State.
Speaking at the joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts, presided over by the Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu in New Delhi on Sunday, Mr. Khattar suggested that judicial proceedings of higher courts should be webcast/telecast live. The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Making a pitch for a separate High Court for Haryana, the Chief Minister argued that Article-214 of the Constitution provided for a High Court for each State. The Haryana Vidhan Sabha had passed resolutions on March14, 2002, and December 15, 2005, for bifurcation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and creation of a separate High Court for Haryana and requested the Central Government to move an Appropriate Bill for carrying out suitable amendments in the relevant statutes.
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“We are of the view that a separate High Court for Haryana can conveniently be set up on the premises of the Punjab and Haryana High Court by bifurcating the building, staff and other infrastructure on the same lines as was done in the case of Legislative Assembly and Civil Secretariat,” he said.
Raising the issue of insufficient representation given to Haryana on the High Court Bench, he said the practice in Chandigarh Administration was that 60 per cent officers were taken from Punjab and 40 per cent from Haryana.
The same principle is followed while recommending the names of lawyers and judicial officers for elevation to judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But the Punjab Reorganisation Act nowhere prescribes for any such distribution in the ratio 60:40.
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“After more than 48 years of creation of the State, the ground realities have completely changed. Haryana has 21 Session Divisions and 30 Sessions Judges whereas Punjab has 19 Session Divisions and 28 Sessions Judges. We have 485 serving Judges as compared to 432 in Punjab. The financial contribution of Haryana to the high court is almost on par with Punjab.
“In view of these facts, we are of the view that the practice of fixing 60:40 ratio is discriminatory and against the mandate of the Constitution of India,” he added.
Building the case for an additional Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in southern-western Haryana, Mr. Khattar said that because of the long distance, poor litigants from far-off southern and western Haryana found it difficult to pursue cases in the High Court in Chandigarh. States like Rajasthan, UP and Maharashtra have High Court Benches away from the principal Bench, he added.