Home Dehradun Lawyers oppose proposal to set up HC bench in IDPL Rishikesh

Lawyers oppose proposal to set up HC bench in IDPL Rishikesh

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By Arun Pratap Singh

Nainital, 8 May: The Uttarakhand High Court today suddenly proposed setting up of High Court Bench at IDPL in Rishikesh while hearing a special appeal of the state government regarding IDPL in Rishikesh.

During the hearing, Chief Secretary Radha Raturi was also asked to appear through video conferencing. It was suggested by the Bench, that a High Court bench be set up at IDPL, since around 70 percent cases in the High Court are related to Garhwal. It was stated that the remaining 30 percent of cases related to Kumaon can continue to be heard in Nainital.  Some lawyers were also opposed to the move to shift the High Court to Gaulapaar in Haldwani.

While hearing the case, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal passed a verbal order to shift the High Court or set up a bench of the High Court at IDPL in Rishikesh. However, the Bar of the lawyers of High Court, strongly opposed the court order and urged the Chief Justice to withdraw it upon which the hearing was postponed till afternoon. The High Court has also sought the response of the state government in this regard.

This morning, hearing was in progress on some petitions of Indian Drugs and Pharmaceutical Limited (IDPL) based in Rishikesh. Chief Secretary Radha Raturi was also present during the hearing on a virtual basis.

While writing the order after the hearing, the Chief Justice termed the proposal regarding shifting the High Court to Goulapar as a wrong step and said that 850 acres of IDPL land in Rishikesh is suitable for this. Out of this land, former employees live on 130 acres of land. The Chief Justice also remarked that the land allocated for shifting of the High Court to Gaulapar has a large number of trees which would have to be felled if the High Court buildings are constructed there. If the High Court or its bench is established at IDPL in Rishikesh, then the High Court in Nainital can continue to operate from the existing buildings for Kumaon region.

As soon as the order was passed in the court, panic was clearly noticed among the lawyers. They gathered in the auditorium and expressed their opposition to the proposal of shifting the High Court to Rishikesh. Everyone said in one voice that this should be opposed. Ever since the court was formed, the complete appointment of judges has not been done yet. The issue of shifting the court comes up once a year.

On this occasion, High Court Bar President DCS Rawat, Secretary Saurabh Adhikari, Vijay Bhatt, Prabhakar Joshi, Syed Nadeem ‘Moon’, Vikas Guglani, Pushpa Joshi, Raman Sah, Lalit Belwal, Deep Prakash Bhatt, Qurban Ali, Kailash Tiwari, Saurabh Pandey, Deep Joshi, Harendra Belwal, Bhuvan Rawat, Dushyant Mainali, DS Mehta, MC Kandpal, Ajay Bisht, Lata Negi, Suhail Ahmed Siddiqui, Aditya Sah, etc., were also present.