By: Ankita Kulkarni
February 2 2022
A plea has been made to establish regional centers of the Supreme court in three different cities. The government has not announced plans to do so.
A plea has been made to establish regional centers of the Supreme court in three different cities. The government has not announced plans to do so.Over the decades, several entities have been demanding decentralization of the Supreme Court by establishing four permanent regional benches in South India. The issue has been raised several times, but the Supreme court of India has rejected it. Rajya Sabha Member and senior lawyer P Wilson moved a Private Member Bill in July 2020, which outlines the necessity of establishing regional benches in Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata. He has raised concerns that access to the Supreme court will be restricted if the person is economically weak and thereby denied justice. In another development, Bar council heads of southern states have approached Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana and appealed to consider the long pending demand of regional Supreme Courts. They submitted a memorandum that said the present system needs to be changed for the speedy delivery of justice. However, the Indian Law Ministry has not responded in the matter, and hence we mark it as misleading.