Amend Article 130 To Establish Regional Benches of SC: Sr Adv P Wilson Writes To Law Minister RS Prasad

In his letter dated 16^th December, Wilson mentioned that since the Supreme Court is only situated in New Delhi, which is far away from Southern, South Western & Eastern States, access to justice of citizens living in these states is affected adversely.

He wrote that the presently, the relief provided under Article 32 only extends to the people who are geographically close to the Apex Court or to those who have no financial problems and can bear the litigation and travel costs easily.

"In some cases, such as some categories of Writ Petitions, the case is heard at the first instance itself by a Division Bench of the High Court, and appeal against the same is only to the Supreme Court. Therefore, a person who cannot afford to go to Delhi, or afford the fees of the lawyers at Delhi, which is invariably higher due to demand, is left without an appellate remedy," wrote Wilson.

He highlighted that one of the reasons for adjournment of cases in the Supreme Court is that counsels often travel to the Court from various parts of the country and cannot make it to the hearing on time. "Having Regional Benches and splitting up of the cases with more judges to hear them will certainly make it easy for the lawyers and the litigants," the Letter states.

The next point he raises is that the Supreme Court is burdened with an insurmountable number of cases. He explains how the Supreme Court hears matters related to all fields of law and how this "ever-expanding docket of the Court has transformed it from a body that hears constitutional matters to a final appellate Court."

He goes on to say that this has added on to the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court. While quoting statistics from the website of the Supreme Court, Wilson states, "At present, there are 34 seats on the Supreme Court, for a population of about 133 crore, a ratio of 1:3,91,17,647. There are roughly about 63,000 cases pending before the Supreme Court of India."

Thus, he stressed on the significance of access to justice and how the Constitution of India guarantees this through Article 32. He also stated that under Article 39, the State has the fundamental duty to ensure that justice is not denied to anyone due to economic reasons or any other disabilities

He has therefore urged Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to introduce a Bill to amend Article 130 of the Constitution and establish regional benches of the Apex Court at New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Article 130 of the Constitution reads as follows, "The Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time appoint." This implies that the Constitution framers had been aware that a time will come when the Supreme Court may sit at places other than Delhi. "The use of the term 'place or places' shows that the framers of the Constitution contemplated that the Court can sit in more than once place – obviously to ensure ease of access to citizens. There cannot be a higher purpose," Wilson wrote in the letter.

This is not the first instance where a suggestion for the establishment of regional benches of the Court has been made. In his letter, Wilson mentions that the Standing Committees of Parliament recommended setting up of Regional Benches of the Supreme Court in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. Further, various Law Commission have also asked for establishment of such regional benches. He also mentions how the Hon'ble Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Venkaiah Naidu had made a similar request in 2019.

Wilson goes on to say that setting up of regional benches is not just beneficial to the citizens of India, but rather to the Court as well. Setting up of these regional benches, Wilson states, will increase the strength and seats on the Supreme Court Region wise thereby paving the way for more meritorious and diverse Judges to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

He also states that the Full Court of the Supreme Court had rejected this proposal when it was brought before them earlier, while stating that setting up of regional benches would affect the "country's unitary character."

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But Wilson strikes at this argument by saying that "all the Parliamentary Committees that have considered the matter are unanimously of the view that setting up Benches outside Delhi 'would neither impair unity and integrity nor undermine the importance of the Supreme Court.'"

He added,

"Judges will still be selected as per the Memorandum of Procedure, which involves the collegium of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of India will continue to be master of roster and will presumably have full control to allocate Judges to these Permanent Benches. Hence, the apprehension that the establishment of Permanent Regional Benches of Supreme Court will affect the unitary character of the Supreme Court is unfounded."

Wilson insisted that it is the Parliament which has final say on this issue, and not the Supreme Court. He wrote,

"The will of the people cannot be found in the decision of the Full Court of the Supreme Court but only in the decision of Parliament, which is the voice of the people. The final say in this issue cannot be left to the decision of the Full Court of the Supreme Court because administration of justice is still a subject over which the Parliament has legislative competence. In any case, the independence of the Judiciary will not be affected if Permanent Regional Benches are established."

The letter also stated that the current government should not bind itself to the decision that was taken by the Full Court ten years ago and as Wilson states, "It is time for Parliament to hear the voice of the people, and answer their fervent cries to open the doors of justice to all sections of society."

The power of Article 130 has become obsolete and redundant. He states that establishment of an intermediate court between the High Courts and the Supreme Courts is not enough. This intermediary court, Wilson states, will only delay the finalization of justice.

"Any infraction or diversion would negate the right flowing under Article 21 besides recourse to Art 32 of Constitution of India which has been easy to invoke all along only for the rich, depriving the economically weaker sections of society. Article 32 as Dr. Ambedkar put it as the soul of the Constitution and thus recourse to it should be easy and cannot remain a distant dream for the poor."

Wilson communicated that he had already introduced a private member's Bill for the amendment of Article 130. He concluded the letter by urging the Government of India to introduce a Bill in the Parliament to amend Article 130 of the Constitution of India to establish regional benches of the Supreme Court in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. He ended the letter by saying that such an amendment will "open the doors of the Supreme Court to all sections of Indians, so that Article 32 may be easily accessible and available to all and oblige."