He referred to the observation in the judgement of Bihar Legal Support Society Versus Chief Justice of India in which the suggestion was made for the National Court of Appeal.
He submitted that the geographical proximity and financial status of citizens in the society are vital factors for every citizen to have access to top court of the land and referred to media reports that of all the cases filed in the Supreme Court, the highest number are from high courts in the northern states -- 12 per cent from Delhi, 8.9 per cent from Punjab and Haryana, 7 per cent from Uttarakhand, 4.3 per cent from Himachal Pradesh, etc.
The lowest figures are from the southern high courts - Kerala 2.5 per cent, Andhra Pradesh 2.8 per cent, and 1.1 per cent from Madras High Court, the petition said.
The advocate said that despite the recommendation of the Law Commission of India in its 229th report that four cassation benches be set up in the northern region, the southern region, the eastern region and the western region to deal with all appellate work arising out of orders/judgements of the high courts of the particular region, the request for a bench of the Supreme Court in south India has not materialised till now.
Coming to the practicalities and hardships, the advocate submitted that establishment of a “National Court of Appeal” as suggested in the case of Bihar Legal Support Society would rectify the inequality state of affairs inasmuch as the said National Court of Appeal would have benches in all possible regions of the country.
“This would considerably reduce the cost of litigation and would enable the litigants to have the services of the lawyer who appeared for them before the high court.
Updated on: February 28, 2014 22:10 IST
