Haryana Assembly passes resolution for separate High Court

The Haryana Assembly today passed a resolution to request the Parliament to effect an amendment in the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 to provide for the creation of a separate High Court for the state in Chandigarh.
The state assembly has earlier also adopted resolutions recommending the bifurcation of Punjab and Haryana High Court and setting up of a separate High Court for the State in March, 2002 and December, 2005.
Today, the resolution, moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ram Bilas Sharma, was passed unanimously in the special one day session of the State Assembly, which had been convened to pass the Haryana Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017.

Reading out the resolution, Ram Bilas said that while Haryana has completed 50 years of its existence as a separate state, a separate High Court had still not been provided.
"During this period, the people of Haryana have suffered in manifold ways, including through delays in the disposal of their cases due to heavy workload in the common High Court.
"Presently, there are only 18 Judges from Haryana against a total sanctioned strength of 85," he said.

Sharma also said there are 13 Judges from Haryana under direct quota drawn from advocates of the High Court, against a sanctioned strength of 23, "leading to under-representation of the advocates from Haryana."

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar informed the members that on April 22, he had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to accord top priority to setting up of a separate High Court for Haryana during the state's ongoing golden jubilee year celebrations.
Khattar said that he has also spoken about the issue with the Chief Justice of India and the Union Law Minister.
Senior Congress legislator Karan Singh Dalal told the House that a similar resolution had been passed in the Assembly during the regime of previous state government which was led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Dalal, however, said the issue has been lingering as it gets stuck over jurisdiction.

Hooda supported the resolution, but added that the issue of who would have the jurisdiction over common Capital Chandigarh becomes an issue.
"Who will have jurisdiction on Chandigarh? Punjab High Court or Haryana High Court? This is where things get stuck. Otherwise during my time, things had come very close and we would have got a separate High Court," Hooda said.
Chandigarh is common capital of both Haryana and Punjab.
Pointing towards Khattar, Dalal said "why not have a separate capital for Haryana, if you take this decision, people will remember you for times to come. Having a separate capital for Haryana will solve the issue".