MADURAI: Expressing concern as to why jurisdictions like Admiralty, Arbitration, and cases against legislators are not vested with the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, former Supreme Court judge, Justice Markandey Katju said since the Madurai Bench is a permanent Bench of the Madras High Court, it would be better to entrust the Bench with similar jurisdiction that are vested with the Principal Seat.
He also wanted more districts to be included within the territorial jurisdiction of the Madurai Bench. Justice Katju voiced the concern while addressing advocates and media at the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court Bar Association (MMBA) in the court premises on Monday. He added that he would soon be writing to the President of India, Chief Justice of India (CJI), among others, in this regard.
The Madurai Bench was established in 2004, with the intention of avoiding people travelling long distances to the Principal Seat at Chennai.
It’s been more than two decades now, and its performance is on par with the Principal Seat, Justice Katju remarked.
While 14 out of 38 districts of Tamil Nadu come under the Madurai Bench at present, the members of the bar and a large segment of the public are of the view that a few more districts such as Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Thiruvarur, Ariyalur, and Namakkal, are distance-wise closer and proximate to the Madurai Bench than to the Principal Seat, Justice Katju said and opined it would be more appropriate that these districts are brought within the territoriality of the Madurai Bench.
Taking into account the growing population, he also suggested increasing the strength of the judges from 75 to at least 100, and the Madurai Bench be provided with at least 40 judges.