Plea before Supreme Court to set up filing counters of Allahabad High Court in District Courts of West UP

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking establishment of filing counters and virtual hearing facilities of the Allahabad High Court in District & Sessions courts of western Uttar Pradesh (UP) [Md Anas Chaudhary v Union of India]..The petition filed by Md Anas Chaudhary has prayed that such filing counters and virtual hearing set-ups should be provided in west UP till a decision is taken for establishing a bench of the High Court in western UP.The plea, drawn by advocate Shehla Chaudhary and filed through advocate Ansar Ahmed Chaudhary, said that it has been a long pending demand by the people and lawyers of western UP that a bench of the High Court be established in the area for easy access to justice."Absence of permanent bench in Western Uttar Pradesh is denial of access to justice to the people of Western Uttar Pradesh," the petition stated. .The petition claimed that for many litigants in Western Uttar Pradesh, the High Courts of seven States including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi were closer in comparison to the Allahabad High Court.The plea also highlighted the workload and pendency of cases in Allahabad High Court. According to the National Judicial Data Grid approximately 10.76 lakh cases are pending before the Allahabad High Court, it was contended. Since the Allahabad High Court has no bench in Western Uttar Pradesh, both litigants and lawyers find it difficult to travel to file their case and for hearing. A litigant has to travel a distance of more than 700 kilometers from Meerut to Allahabad to attend hearings, the plea highlighted. Many a time when a litigant or lawyer travels all the way to Allahabad for a hearing, it gets adjourned to another date, leading to a significant loss of money, time and energy, the plea further said.The petitioner also drew the attention of the Court to a recommendation by the 18th Law Commission of India for the decentralisation of High Courts' work by establishing more benches..Speedy trial is not only required to give quick justice, but it is also an integral part of the fundamental right to life & personal liberty envisaged in Article 21 of the Constitution, it was contended. Therefore, the petitioner prayed for Allahabad High Court's filing counters to be established in District and Sessions courts of west UP and also sought direction to hold all hearings in High Court in cases from west UP via hybrid mode.