Act passed by invaders, British Parliament: Petition filed before Allahabad High Court challenging validity of Indian High Courts Act, 1861

A writ petition has been filed before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court challenging the validity of the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 and the United Provinces High Court Amalgamation Order of 1948 (Dr Shamsher Yadav Jagrana and Anr. v. Union of India and Ors)..The petitioner has contended that the present setup of various High Courts is as per Article 216 of the Constitution, and "not some Act passed by invaders British Parliament.".The petitioner has challenged the applicability of the 1948 order. It has been contended that after 1950, when the Constitution came into force, the said order stands annulled. Hence, there is a need to pass a fresh order to 're-allocate' the territorial jurisdiction of benches of the High Court in Uttar Pradesh.The United Provinces High Court Amalgamation Order, 1948 established the High Court in Allahabad, along with Chief Court in Oudh. "3. As from the appointed day, the High Court in Allahabad and the Chief Court in Oudh shall be amalgamated and shall constitute one High Court by the name of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad (hereinafter referred to as 'the new High Court'," reads Section 3 of the order. .The petitioners have prayed that the State government should be directed to 'reconsider' the allocation of territorial jurisdiction in Uttar Pradesh. It has been submitted that the present allocation of territorial jurisdiction is unreasonable, unjust and violative of Articles 14 and 21, because at present, the cases of 60 districts across Uttar Pradesh are filed at Prayagraj and cases of 15 districts are at Lucknow..The following reliefs have been sought from the Court:To quash the United Provinces High Court Amalgamation Order, 1948 and declare it as 'ultra vires'To direct the State government to re-allocate the territorial jurisdiction between the High Court benches in Uttar Pradesh.To declare the provisions of the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 as ultra vires the Constitution and to direct the 'Union of Bharat', not to implement the Act passed by the British Parliament..The petitioners have also pointed out that in other states, the territorial jurisdiction has been properly allocated. The plea cites the example of benches in Maharashtra, where the territorial division is proportionately processed. "Mumbai bench is having territorial jurisdiction over 14 districts, Nagpur bench over 11 districts and Aurangabad bench over 11 districts. We have also said that in Tamilnadu high court, the Chennai bench is having jurisdiction over 16 districts and Madurai bench over 14 districts. We have said that the Jodhpur bench of Rajasthan High court enjoy the jurisdiction over 19 districts whereas the Jaipur bench over 16 districts whereas in UP high court, the bench at Prayagraj is having jurisdiction over 60 districts and Lucknow bench over 15 districts only," reads the petition. .The matter has been listed before the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on March 17. The petition has been filed by Advocate Shamsher Yadav Jagrana along with Advocates Ashok Pandey, DK Tripathi and Monika Singh.