The Hindu : National : Bring in amendment to set up apex court Benches: panel

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Sunday, Aug 13, 2006

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National

Bring in amendment to set up apex court Benches: panel

Special Correspondent

Faced with court's resistance, it asks Centre to break deadlock

Poor litigants cannot visit New Delhi No convincing reason from court

New Delhi: Confronted with opposition from the Supreme Court to the establishment of its Benches in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, the Parliamentary Committee on Law and Justice has urged the Centre to amend the Constitution to break the deadlock.

It recommended that the Law Ministry come forward with an amendment to overcome the court's opposition.

In its report submitted to Parliament recently, the committee said: "It has been recommending time and again the setting up of Benches in far-flung areas with a view to providing justice to the poor, for whom it is impossible to visit the national capital" but the Supreme Court was resisting the proposal.

Headed by E.V. Sudarsana Natchiappan, the committee, in its second and sixth reports, favoured the establishment of the Benches in the southern, western and northeastern parts.

The earlier committees recommended that the Government decide its course of action to resolve the matter expeditiously. In its reply, the Centre told the present committee that it had been pleading with the court for its approval for the proposal to set up regional Benches, as it was mandatory under Article 130 of the Constitution. The Full Court considered the matter and the judges were of the considered opinion that the demand could not be accepted. The Full Court rejected the demand in 1999 and reiterated its stand in 2001, 2004 and early this year.

The committee, in its report, said it was not satisfied with the persistent opposition without any convincing reason or justification. It therefore endorsed the views of the earlier committees that the setting up of regional Benches would be of immense help to poor litigants.

The committee also asked the Government to simplify the various pieces of Central legislation. It said "legislative language is often quite technical, intricate and incomprehensible for the common man for whom laws are made."

Laws should be drafted in national or regional languages to convey the purpose and intent of framing them.

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