Fulfilling a long-standing dream for North Karnataka, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday gave its approval for the establishment of Permanent Benches of the Karnataka High Court in Dharwad and Gulbarga.
This is the second dream fulfilled in the recent times for the region, after Parliament passed the amendment to section 371 of the constitution conferring special status on Hyderabad-Karnataka.
An official release said: “Establishment of the Permanent Benches would facilitate better access for justice to litigants of the districts, covered under the jurisdiction of the Dharwad and Gulbarga Benches. It will also help in speedy disposal of cases with consequent reduction in pendency in the High Court.”
At present, judges are sitting at Circuit Benches at Dharwad and Gulbarga on a rotational basis for a month. They will be made permanent now.
Union labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge, who has been the main force behind both the UPA decisions, told Express from New Delhi that the Union cabinet had passed the draft notification for the permanent benches unanimously.
The draft notification gives the power of nominating High Court judges to the permanent benches from time to time to the chief justice of the Karnataka High Court. The proposed bench in Dharwad would handle cases from the districts of Dharwad, Bagalkot, Bellary, Koppal, Belgaum, Gadag, Haveri and Uttara Kannada districts while the Gulbarga bench would handle cases from Bidar, Gulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur and Bijapur districts.
The draft notification, which will be sent to the President for issuance of final notification, also specifies that the Karnataka High Court chief justice, may, at his discretion, order that any case or cases arising in any such district shall be heard at Bangalore.
Kharge said: “We hope the final notification will be issued by the President within a month or 40 days.”
The Congress government in the state has welcomed the decision. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra told Express: “It is a welcome move. The state government will extend all help and co-operation to the setting up of both the benches.”
A jubilant Dharwad Circuit Bench Advocates Association President B D Hiremath said: “We thank the Union government on behalf of all advocates and people of North Karnataka. This is a victory for the people’s fight. On July 4, the Dharwad Bench will complete five years and it gives us immense joy that a permanent Bench will be established now.”
Hiremath further said: “We request the Chief Justice to appoint deserving judges from North Karnataka as judges of these permanent Benches. We also urge the state government to take a quick decision to establish a bench of KAT in North Karnataka”.