E-Paper
Demand for HC bench in Agra a mere pre-poll ritual now
Although Agra MP SP Singh Baghel is union minister of state for law and justice in the Modi cabinet, the demand for a high court bench in Agra seems to have slowed. This has now become a ritual before every election, and the state assembly election is no exception.
Notwithstanding the fact that Agra MP SP Singh Baghel is union minister of state for law and justice in the Modi cabinet, the demand for a high court bench in Agra seems to have lost steam. The issue has now become more of a ritual before every election, this state assembly election being no different.
The decades-long agitation for a high court bench in western Uttar Pradesh, dating back to 1971, has tested each and every party and now lawyers seem to agree that the issue needs to be disassociated with elections and to gain something, it is more important to make it a mass movement because ultimately it is the common litigant who suffers. Allahabad high court is too distant for many in western UP.
“I began practising in the civil court of Agra in 1969 and two years later in 1971 there was a lawyers’ meet. Advocates from 22 districts of western Uttar Pradesh gathered and pressed the need for a high court bench in western Uttar Pradesh as Allahabad HC was too far for the common litigant,” said Devendra Vajpayee, a veteran civil lawyer.
“As a young lawyer in the early seventies, I came to know that the civil court premises of Agra was once the seat of high court from 1866. The status was lost in 1869 when the British found Agra unsuitable after activism during the 1857 mutiny. The outcome was shifting of high court to Allahabad in 1869. In 1966, centenary celebrations were held both in Agra and Allahabad to mark 100 years of the high court in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.
“After Independence, Agra remained a prominent seat of judiciary and 1956 saw the beginning of a coordinated effort for the first time when a conference was organized in Agra civil court, sowing seeds of an agitation for high court bench which picked up in 1971 and goes on till date,” said Vajpayee.
“The agitation for a high court bench in Agra grew gradually and in 1980 the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Narain Dutt Tiwari raised the issue with then Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi. Late ND Tiwari wrote a letter to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and sought constitution of a commission to work out a location for high court bench in western Uttar Pradesh, a task found tough to resolve at state level, while finding logic in the demand of lawyers,” said Arun Solanki, associated with Action Committee for Establishment of High Court Bench in Agra.
The then Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi constituted a three-member judicial commission headed by Justice Jaswant Singh. The commission travelled extensively all through the western belt of the state to choose the best location and in 1985, selected Agra as the best available location in western Uttar Pradesh for a high court bench,” said Solanki.
Secretary, Action Committee for Establishment of High Court Bench in Agra, Hemant Bhardwaj said that lawyers in Agra had to agitate and knock the doors of the Supreme Court to have the Commission’s recommendations tabled in parliament and staged a foot march till Delhi. The report was published in 1986. The agitation grew as the recommendation failed to get implemented and on September 26, 2001 a large number of police men entered the civil court premises and agitating lawyers were cane charged, leading to constitution of judicial probe headed by Justice Girdhar Malviya, he said.
“All through these years since 1971, lawyers in Agra and nearby districts have tested political leaders of all parties. Congress Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi was of the view that justice should be accessible and available at the least expenses but was assassinated. Vishwa Nath Pratap Singh was from Allahabad, the seat of the high court, so he did not want to go against lawyers in Allahabad who opposed any bench of the high court for obvious reasons,” said Devendra Vajpayee, advocate.
“Chief ministers from all the parties, including SP, BSP, Congress and BJP ruled the state but recommendation of the Jaswant Singh Commission could not see light of the day. When in opposition, Mulayam Singh Yadav gave written support for a high court bench in Agra. It is a common feature that political parties in opposition extend support but forget the issue once in power. So raising of high court bench issue has been reduced to a ‘ritual’ before every election,” complained Vajpayee.
While lawyers in Allahabad high court were never in support of a bench in western Uttar Pradesh, the disagreement even among lawyers from different districts of western Uttar Pradesh. mainly Meerut and Agra threw a spanner in the works. Delegations of lawyers from various districts of western UP met union law ministers in Delhi while MPs from these districts raised issue of the bench in their districts during parliament sessions but the government ducked the issue, complain Agra lawyers.
According to them, despite a favourable Commission report, the subdued political representation from Agra could not convince the central government while powerful political voices from Meerut in the early decades of the agitation left small chance for Agra, said Devendra Vajpayee.
Interestingly, Chaudhary Ajit Singh, son of Chaudhary Charan Singh, brought some hopes as he raised the demand for ‘Harit Pradesh’ – a separate western part of UP as independent state and many thought that with this, Meerut and Agra, two major cities of Harit Pradesh, could share either being the capital or having high court bench. For political compulsions yet not clear, the demand for Harit Pradesh subsided and Ajit’s son Jayant Chaudhary does not even mention Harit Pradesh any more.
“The patience of lawyers in this part of western UP is running out now with the wait for high court bench turning longer. This election again we apprised candidates from Mathura, including minister Sri Kant Sharma, Congress leader Pradeep Mathur and BSP leader Shyam Sundar Sharma of the demand for high court bench in Agra. Now we have decided to file a PIL in Supreme Court after election to press our demand,” said Satyendra Parihar, secretary of Mathura Bar Association
‘With the high court and Bar Council located in the eastern part of the state, the voice of the west remains unheard. Long drawn agitations have failed to provide results and raising of the issue of high court bench in west UP is more of a ritual now. The only option is to make it a mass movement,” said Mahendra Singh Yadav, president of Bar Association at Firozabad, 60 km from Agra.
“There might have been demands for high court bench in Aligarh but lawyers in Aligarh understand that Agra has a strong case after recommendation made by Jaswant Singh Commission. Lawyers in western UP have no hope from elected representatives,” said Devesh Sharma, a lawyer in Aligarh court.
