HYDERABAD: The proposal to have a Supreme Court bench in Hyderabad may not see the light of the day anytime soon. The Supreme Court, in 2016, had deemed it proper to refer the issue of splitting of the Supreme Court into a Constitutional Court at Delhi and Court of Appeal or Federal Court in North, South, East, West and Central India, to the Constitutional Bench for authoritative announcement. The matter is now sub judice.
In a reply to a question in Lok Sabha by TRS member Dr G Ranjith Reddy, Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju said that Article 130 of the Constitution of India provided that 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.
Dr Ranjith Reddy wanted to know if the 18th Law Commission had recommended the setting up of a Southern Bench of Supreme Court in Hyderabad since it is centrally located and if so the action taken by the government in this regard. In his reply, Rijiju said that the 11th Law Commission in its 125th report titled The Supreme Court - A fresh Look, submitted in 1988 had reiterated the recommendations made by 10th Law Commission in its 95th report for splitting the Supreme Court into two namely -- Constitutional Court at Delhi and Court of Appeal or Federal Court and sitting at five places across the country.
The Union Minister said that the Law Commission opined that this will reduce the distance travelled and the cost borne by the litigants. The matter was referred to the CJI, who has informed that after consideration of the matter, the full court at its meeting held on Feb 18, 2010, found no justification for setting up of benches of SC outside Delhi.
4 CASSATION BENCHES
The 18th Law Commission had also suggested that a Constitutional Bench be set up at Delhi and four Cassation Benches be set up in the northern region at Delhi, southern region at Chennai/Hyderabad, eastern Region at Kolkata and western Region at Mumbai.