Pune: The Pune Bar Association (PBA) members, who have been waging a prolonged struggle to get a circuit bench of the Bombay high court in the city, have reacted strongly to the announcement of an HC bench starting in Kolhapur with effect from Aug 18.PBA president Hemant Zanzad told TOI: “We have been demanding an HC circuit bench in Pune much before the lawyers from Kolhapur made such a demand. Pune deserves a circuit bench considering the huge pendency of cases from the district.”Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa member Harshad Nimbalkar said, “A delegation of lawyers from Pune recently met the HC Chief Justice and appealed to him to start a circuit bench in Pune. We have been demanding the bench since 1978. This is because a large number of cases from Pune district are pending in HC. The Chief Justice asked us to submit a proposal citing favourable reasons on why Pune requires a bench.”Lawyer Milind Pawar, PBA’s former president, said, “The litigants can think of getting speedy justice if Pune gets a bench which should function for 15 days in a month. Pune has good infrastructure, and the long-standing demand made by the lawyers and litigants for starting a bench should be considered on merit.”Civil lawyer Eknath Javir said local lawyers having expertise in specialised laws can be elevated as high court judges and appointed as prosecutors if a bench is set up in Pune. A civil lawyer from the city was elevated as HC judge, and barring him, others appointed for the coveted post are from Mumbai among other places.
