REGIONAL BENCHES OF SUPREME COURT

Why in the news?

Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice informed the Parliament about the government’s acceptance of its recommendation to establish regional benches of the Supreme Court (SC).

More on the news

• The recommendations were made in the 133rd report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee titled, ‘Judicial Processes and Their Reform’.
• SC of India may invoke Article 130 of the Constitution for establishing its regional benches at four or five locations in the Country.
  • As per Article 130 of the Constitution of India, the Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India, may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint.
• The interpretation of Constitution and Constitutional matters may be dealt at Delhi and the regional benches may decide appellate matters.
• The appellate benches’ decisions should be treated as final, and it should not be treated as another layer of the judiciary.

Need of Regional benches of SC

• Access to justice: Regional benches of SC would take justice to the near to common citizen thereby upholding access to justice which is a fundamental right under Articles 14 and 21.
  • Article 39A of the Constitution provides that ‘The State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.’
• Reduce geographical bias: Delhi-centric Supreme Court causes a big hurdle for litigants coming from far-flung areas of the country. E.g. language barrier, issues in finding lawyers, the high cost of travel and stay in Delhi etc.
• Reduce the burden of SC: Regional benches can be the solution to the overflowing caseload of the judiciary and reduce the litigation cost to the common man.
• Capacity Enhancement: Permanent Regional Benches of SC would lead to an increase in the number of Judges in SC thereby increasing the Judge to Population ratio.

Challenges in the creation of regional benches

• Opposition from SC: The Supreme Court has been consistently rejecting the proposal for setting up the Benches of the Supreme Court at a place outside Delhi.
• Affect the unitary character of the SC: Multiple regional benches could lead to more divergent views within SC which may become difficult to resolve entailing time and expenditure of litigants.
• Conflicting precedents: Regional benches may lead to the rise of conflicting precedents resulting in increased litigation.
• Might reduce the position of SC: Regional benches of SC, deciding only appellate matters would reduce the position of SC.
• Classification of the case: Identifying and categorizing a case as being of constitutional significance poses a challenging task.
  • The Chief Justice of India may have exclusive power to determine which case is to be classified as a case of Constitutional importance.

Way Forward

• Promote Hybrid/Virtual hearing: Virtual court may help speedy disposal of cases, reduce litigation costs and address the geographical barriers in access to justice.
• Learning from the system prevalent in other countries: E.g. France which implements a system comprising a separate court of appeal and courts of cassation.
• Constitutional amendment for separate court: The government may explore the possibility of a constitutional amendment to separate the functions of the Supreme Court into constitutional and appellate.
• Facilitate Judicial Reforms: E.g. Enhancement of the number of judicial staff and judges, improve judicial infrastructure, promote judicial accountability etc. to improve the efficiency of the judiciary at all levels.