Review area division between HC benches in UP: Petition

A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed Monday before the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court (HC), questioning the territorial jurisdiction of the two benches of the high court in Uttar Pradesh.

The petition filed by social activist Nutan Thakur says that the territorial jurisdiction of the two benches is presently governed by the United Provinces High Courts Amalgamation Order 1948, which fixed Awadh region as the area of the Lucknow bench.

The rest of the provinces within what, at the time, were referred to as the United Provinces, were to fall within the jurisdiction of the Allahabad bench.

Thakur contends in her petition that this arrangement is completely arbitrary and improper, because it does not take into account the distance of various places from Lucknow and Allahabad. So in many districts of western Uttar Pradesh, litigants are forced to cross Lucknow to reach Allahabad.

Pratapgarh district adjacent to Allahabad, for instance, falls within the jurisdiction of the Lucknow bench. This is completely against the interest of litigants, Thakur points out, and the distance adds to their hardships.

The petitioner has prayed for quashing of the 1948 order, as it is detrimental to the interests of litigants. She has sought the rearrangement of territorial jurisdiction of the two benches, keeping in view the distance factor as well.