Satish Handa, April 14
Demand to set up a separate high court in Haryana pending since past three decades has once again active as usual seen prior to Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls. What to speak of formation of a separate high court in the state the proposal for setting up a special bench to deal long pending cases related to south and western Haryana has not been approved by the government in centre. Information reveals that more than 3.5 lakh cases under trial in Punjab and Haryana High court are pending awaiting decision. It is seen that demand for setting up a separate High Court as well as a separate capital for Haryana state by the leaders of political parties in opposition as well as ruling government attracts headlines in newspapers during poll campaigns but remain dumped in files after the elections.
Demand for setting up High Court in Haryana state separate from Punjab presently functioning jointly commenced during March 2002 by then Haryana chief minister Om Parkash Chautala, followed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda chief minister against initiated in December 2005 making an appeal to the government in the centre, which remained hanging on fire for a long time without decision. In the year 2006, then Union Law Minister Hans Raj during visit to Haryana assured to set up separate high court at Rohtak in Haryana state. Information also reveals that in 2015 when BJP government came to power in the state, Manohar Lal Khatter chief minister sent a proposal to Mrime Minister Narender Modi for a separate High Court in Haryana, which was forwarded to a committee constituted by Chief Justice S.J. Wajifdar to decide the issue by four senior judges Justice S.K. Mittal, Justice Hemant Gupta, Justice S.S. Srow and Justice Rajiv Bhalla, which refused to approve the proposal to set up a separate bench to decide long pending Haryana cases related to Gurugram, Rewari, Mewat, Faridabad, Palwal, Mohindergarh, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Hisar, Rohtak and Jhajjer districts under trial in the court incurring lot of inconvenience to people visiting Chandigarh to attend hearing in their cases spending huge time and amount.
The issue was again taken up in Haryana Vidhan Sabha during last Monsoon session, when Manohar Lal Khatter chief minister suggested an economical proposal to divide Punjab and Haryana High Court building in two parts for functioning separate High Courts for both states similar to separate Punab and Haryana Secretriates functioning in a single building at Chandigarh.