New HCs to help speedy trials, disposal of pending cases

GUWAHATI: With three new high courts in Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur, all carved out from Gauhati high court, set to be operational soon, the lawyer fraternity here, which is glad with the move, believe that this will help increase the disposal rate of the pending cases in the region and ensure speedy trials.
"It was a much-needed move. It will not only lessen the burden of the Gauhati high court, but will also create new opportunities for lawyers and law students of the three states. Simultaneously, petitioners from these states will also not have to bear the extra burden of travel expenses to Guwahati for trial anymore," former justice of Gauhati high court DN Choudhury said.
The Gauhati high court was initially known as the high court of Assam. However, with the formation of Nagaland in 1963, it came to be known as the high court of Assam and Nagaland. Later, when the North Eastern Area (Re-organization) Act, 1971, reorganized the region, its name was changed to Gauhati high court and it became the principal bench for all the seven northeastern states. The high court will now continue to cater to Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram, besides Assam.
As the jurisdiction of the Gauhati HC is vast and the number of cases is increasing by the day, there were demands in Manipur and Tripura for separate high courts. According to Bar Council of India (BCI), the new high courts will not only open doors for justice seekers of the respective states, but will also give scope for speedy justice.
"Earlier, petitioners from these three states had to wait for long at the Gauhati high court for dates for their trail as the principal bench here always has a long cause list. Now the list will be reduced and people can now expect a speedy trial," said BCI executive chairman Apurba Kumar Sharma.
The chief justices and judges of the three newly established high courts in Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura were sworn in on Saturday. While Justice T Meena Kumari became the first chief justice of Meghalaya, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre was sworn in as the first chief justice of Manipur high court. Justice Deepak Gupta became the new chief justice of Tripura HC.
Advocate Sabda Rabha, who was dealing with several petitions from Meghalaya and Tripura here, said from now on the advocates will have to travel to these states to attend cases in contrast to the earlier trend of petitioners travelling to Guwahati. "As a member of the BCI, we can attend cases anywhere in the region," said Rabha.