Justice BR Gavai bats for Bombay High Court Bench at Kolhapur

Justice BR Gavai of Supreme Court on Saturday voiced his support for establishing a new Kolhapur Bench of the Bombay High Court, emphasizing that it would facilitate faster access to justice for residents in remote areas.

Justice Gavai, whose parent High Court is the Bombay High Court, said that an additional Bench of the Bombay High Court would not diminish the Court’s reputation.

The Bombay High Court currently has Benches in Goa, Nagpur and Aurangabad.

Justice Gavai was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for an Advocate Academy and Research Centre in Maharashtra.

The judge took part in a Bhoomi Poojan ceremony for the proposed academy to be set up by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa in Maharashtra's Taloja.

This facility, which will be the first of its kind in the country, aims to provide comprehensive training for young advocates and enhance legal awareness among both legal professionals and the general public.

In his address, Justice Gavai reiterated his concerns about economic inequalities that persist in India and the role of lawyers in tackling this divide.

In August this year, he had said that entire wealth of the country is concentrated in the hands of a few while a vast majority cannot afford two square meals a day

On Saturday, the Supreme Court judge underscored the critical role that lawyers can play as social engineers in addressing pressing social inequalities.

"By adopting the principle of one person, one vote, one value, we have attempted to achieve political justice, political equality. But what about economic and social equality? What about social and economic justice? An economic plan? We have a society where the entire wealth of the country is concentrated in few hands whereas the what majority is finding it difficult to meet ends of Justice. On a social plane, we have a society which is comparable into compartments wherein the movement from one compartment to the other compartment is impossible. A lawyer is a social engineer and a constitution is an instrument to achieve at a social and economic relationship," he said.

Justice Gavai expressed his belief that the proposed academy will serve as a model for similar initiatives nationwide, equipping future lawyers with the tools needed to foster social change.

The proposed Advocates Academy will be located on an 8,000 square meter plot and feature a 250,000 square foot building, which will include administrative and academic facilities, a research center, two auditoriums, and six classrooms. It will also provide residential accommodations for up to 600 advocates.

The ceremony was also attended by Supreme Court Justice Prasanna B Varale, Bombay High Court judges Justices AS Gadkari, Sarang Kotwal, and Manish Pitale, along with Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister and Law Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Advocate General Birendra Saraf.

The Bhoomi Poojan ceremony of the academy comes shortly after the ground breaking ceremony of the new Bombay High Court building in Bandra.