Hyderabad: The BRS party has urged the Centre to establish four Supreme Court benches and increase the number of judges.
Former MP B Vinod Kumar and legal cell head S Bharat addressed a press conference. Kumar highlighted the Supreme Court Chief Justice Chandrachud’s comments on the challenges faced by judges. He emphasized the long-standing demand for Supreme Court benches in four regions of the country: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, or Hyderabad. Both the Law Commission and the Parliament Standing Committee have suggested setting up these benches.
Though the Centre supports this idea, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has the authority to create benches under Article 130 of the Constitution. Kumar dismissed concerns that setting up benches in multiple locations would disturb national integrity. He recalled proposing a Constitution Amendment Bill in Parliament in 2015 to support this initiative.
Kumar pointed out that 5.1 crore cases are pending in the country, with over 20 lakh cases pending for 30 years. Currently, the Supreme Court has 34 judges, but Kumar argued that increasing this number to 64 would be beneficial. He noted that when Telangana was formed, there were 24 judges, and in 2018, the Centre sanctioned 42 judges at the request of KCR and then Chief Justice NV Ramana. The AP High Court now has 37 judges.
Kumar called for the establishment of Supreme Court benches in four regions and an increase in the number of judges to 64. He urged the full court advocates, who oppose this initiative for various reasons, to change their stance and support the formation of these benches.
Bharat added that India, as the fourth-largest economy and the largest democracy, ranks 93rd out of 142 countries in terms of case resolution. He warned that pending cases could negatively impact the country’s GDP. Bharat criticized the allocation of just 0.1 percent of the Central budget to the judicial system. He praised the BRS government for creating 33 districts and setting up computerized courts, a feature not available in many other states.
