Supreme Court rejects plea challenging establishment of Bombay High Court's circuit bench at Kolhapur

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition challenging the notification that led to the creation of a Bombay High Court circuit bench at Kolhapur..The plea moved by lawyer Ranjeet Baburao Nimbalkar was dismissed by a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria.The circuit bench at Kolhapur was inaugurated by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai in August. It has a jurisdiction over the six districts of Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg..In the plea before the top court, it was argued that the establishment of such benches was to be an exception rather than a norm under the criteria listed out by the Jaswant Singh Commission."Apart from the distance consideration, these criteria included whetherthe litigation in the principal seat from the said area was at least 1/3rd of the total number of cases, the disposal rate at the High Court itself whether increase in the strength of judges would be an effective remedy," the plea said.It added that the Supreme Court in a verdict had emphasised the importance of the High Court Chief Justice ascertaining the opinion of the other judges of the High Court while taking a decision for the creation of a circuit bench.In this context, the plea argued there is no information regarding such consultative process having taken place among the Bombay High Court judges.Advocate Nimbalkar also alleged that the circuit bench at Kolhapur will lead to severe administrative burden on the High Court machinery..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.