Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting necessary steps to establish a permanent bench of the Supreme Court in Chennai, describing it as a long-pending demand of the state first raised in 1980.
Setting up a Supreme Court bench in Chennai would address the practical difficulties faced by litigants from the southern states, he wrote.
Citing Article 130 of the Constitution, which states that the Supreme Court “shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint”, CM Vijay mentioned that the issue was discussed at the conference of Chief Justices in 1979, adding that litigants from South India are forced to travel to New Delhi to seek redress.
Vijay, in his letter, said that setting up an SC bench in Chennai, as a major city in South India, would benefit all southern states. He highlighted that the needs of a proposed bench could be met locally, citing the high professional competence of the Bar Council of Madras, and that the Madras High Court is one of the oldest chartered high courts in India, established in 1862.
The letter refers to the Full Court of the Supreme Court meeting on 7 August 2007, which found no justification for departing from earlier resolutions opposing the proposal despite Tamil Nadu’s assurances on infrastructure, including residential accommodation for judges.
Vijay said that a bench in Chennai would allow better access and recalled that the framers of the Constitution intended for all citizens, rich or poor, to have direct access to the court, which was the primary reason for enacting Article 32.
He further said that currently, access is practically available only to those who are geographically close to the Supreme Court or financially able to meet the costs of litigation and travel, leaving citizens in South India largely deprived because of the distance from New Delhi.
The Chief Minister also drew attention to the fact that the establishment of a Supreme Court bench is among the questions of law raised in the 2016 writ petition V. Vasanthakumar vs. H.C. Bhatia, which was placed before a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India.
Vijay urged the Prime Minister to take up the issue afresh with the Supreme Court so that it may reconsider its stand and favourably decide on a bench in Chennai. He pointed out that the establishment of a Supreme Court bench in Chennai would reflect the true federal character of the nation.
The demand is also backed by the recommendations of the Standing Committees of Parliament made in 2004, 2006, 2008 and again in 2021, as well as by successive Law Commission reports that have reiterated the need for permanent regional benches. Such a bench, CM Vijay stressed, would not affect the independence of the judiciary since control over it would remain with the Chief Justice of India.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)