Bar Councils of Five States in South India demand for a Supreme Court Bench

Bar Councils of Five States in South India demand for a Supreme Court Bench

The Bar Councils of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala came together and have unanimously demanded a Supreme Court Bench in South India

The Bar Councils of the Five States made such a demand keeping in mind that people end up surrendering the idea of accessing the Top Court of Justice due to the distance factor, lack of reach, and their inability to afford the costs of reaching to the Supreme Court (SC) in New Delhi.

The demand was deliberated by the Chiefs of the Bar Councils of these five states of South India, at a webinar organized by the Telangana State Bar Council. A Narasimha Reddy who is the Chairman of Bar Council of Telangana State was elected as the Convener of the committee formed to achieve this goal.

The States have been demanding a bench of the Supreme Court. However this is the first time that the top legal experts from South India have joined their hands and stood together for the purpose.

The Chairman Mr. Reddy said it was incomprehensible as to why the SC is not setting up its appellate benches in four parts of India. He further stated, "The Supreme Court at Delhi can exclusively concentrate on constitutional issues while its appellate benches in the four corners would decide the appeals emanating from the high courts."

The bar councils unanimously resolved to seek an appointment and meet President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, PM Narendra Modi, law minister, the Chief Justice of India, and all the Judges of the Supreme Court in the coming days.

They will be briefed in the delegation about the problems faced by the people of South India, whose cases are pending at the High Court due to the reason of the faraway distance of New Delhi from South India. The delegates further said that the SC is considered "impractical" in terms of affordability.

In the meeting, the delegates also discussed the heavy fees charged by advocates of the SC. They emphasized that hefty fees charged by the Advocates at SC make the Top Court affordable only to the rich and the Corporates. But for a common man, it is not so easy to afford their exorbitant fees.