Kolhapur: Chief Justice of India Bhushan Gavai on Sunday asked the Bombay high court to submit a proposal as early as possible to convert the newly inaugurated high court circuit bench in Kolhapur into a permanent bench. “I still have three-and-a-half months left in the CJI office, and this is a fairly long period,” he said at the inauguration of the high court circuit bench.Gavai, who was sworn in as the CJI on May 14, is due for retirement on Nov 23. “Whatever limited time I have got to serve as the CJI, I have tried my best to speed up things needed for our judicial system,” he said, pointing out that at least 50 judges have been appointed to high courts across the country in his short tenure so far.The new bench is the Bombay high court’s fifth bench after its principal bench in Mumbai and benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad (both in Maharashtra) and Panaji in Goa.Gavai also asserted that Maharashtra was nowhere behind any other state in terms of judicial infrastructure, referring to the renovated HC circuit bench building in Kolhapur that once served as the high court and the Supreme Court of the erstwhile princely state of Kolhapur under the reformist king Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj.“By renovating the building to its old grandeur within a record three to four weeks, state govt and its public works department have shown that Maharashtra is nowhere behind any other state in terms of judicial infrastructure, contrary to reports we had seen recently,” he asserted.Gavai reaffirmed his strong belief in the principle of justice at the doorstep of people and said that when it came to setting up the Kolhapur circuit bench, he never thought of the lawyers but always thought about securing justice for that poor litigant from areas like Chandgad bordering Karnataka, Akkalkot bordering Solapur and Sindhudurg bordering Goa.“In the circuit bench at Kolhapur, the litigants from six districts (Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri) stand free of a longstanding problem of travelling all the way to Mumbai to seek justice, spending precious time and money,” he pointed out.Gavai said the circuit bench has opened a whole lot of new opportunities for the young lawyers from the six districts. “When the Aurangabad bench was established, people initially doubted that it would serve merely as an elevated district court. But the legal fraternity there proved them wrong as we have had several HC and Supreme Court judges originating from Aurangabad. I am sure 10 years down the line, Kolhapur and its adjoining six districts too will provide judges to the higher courts. At least 200 lawyers currently practising in Mumbai, are likely to return to Kolhapur to practice at the circuit bench,” the CJI said.Gavai appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Khadse to consider the local lawyers’ demand to reserve a one-acre land for building a new hostel for young lawyers in Kolhapur city.Earlier, the CJI paid glowing tributes to Kolhapur’s erstwhile reformist king Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and the latter’s active role and influence in funding and developing the architect of Indian Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar.Bombay high court’s chief justice Alok Aradhe said, “I am sure the new circuit bench will uphold the prestige and sanctity of the Bombay HC as an institution, and it represents the judiciary’s commitment to take justice at the doorstep of the litigants.”Justice M S Karnik, who is the administrative judge of Kolhapur circuit bench, said, “The circuit bench was not just a geographic need but also a need for securing social justice.”Justices Anil Kilor, Bharati Dangare and Manish Pitale, all administrative judges of Nagpur, Panaji and Aurangabad benches, senior HC judges, state cabinet minister and elected representatives from the six districts under Kolhapur bench and several prominent figures were present.CM Devendra Fadnavis handed over a document to Bombay HC Chief Justice Alok Aradhe declaring state’s transfer of 9ha and 18r land at Shenda Park to the HC for the construction of the Kolhapur circuit bench’s new building. This was after Kolhapur district collector Amol Yedage made a formal announcement of the govt’s decision and said that the state health department, which owned the land parcel, has given its consent for the land transfer.CM Fadnavis later said in his speech, “We won’t stop at mere land transfer. He urged the HC authorities to prepare an elaborate building plan and submit the same to the state so that the govt can begin construction of the proposed new building as early as possible.”Fadnavis also said that the govt was committed to developing court infrastructure across Maharashtra and would soon take an apt decision on the demand for passing an Advocates Protection Act that is aimed at curbing instances of attacks on lawyers.CJI Bhushan Gavai effectively ruled out Pune lawyers’ long standing demand for a circuit bench of the Bombay high court (HC) in Pune. Instead, he made out a case for state govt to connect Kolhapur with Pune and Baramati via expressways so that Pune can be brought under the HC’s newly set up circuit bench in Kolhapur.“Pune lawyers met me recently, asking for my support to their demand for a circuit bench in their city. Their demand is for 4,000 to 5,000 lawyers there and not for people. I told them my father has always taught me never to cause any harm to anybody. I told them I will not oppose their demand, but I won’t advocate their cause either. We are supposed to think of people and not just lawyers alone.”
