Pune lawyers furious over planned Bombay HC bench at Kolhapur

The lawyers in Pune court did not conduct any proceedings on Thursday in protest against the assurance given by Fadnavis to the Kolhapur Bar Association on Wednesday. (Representational Image) 

The Pune Bar Association (PBA) has demanded clarification from Guardian Minister Girish Bapat on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s recent announcement about the state planning to give funds to set up a High Court Bench in Kolhapur. The lawyers have warned they would start an agitation if they do not receive an explanation.

The lawyers in Pune court did not conduct any proceedings on Thursday in protest against the assurance given by Fadnavis to the Kolhapur Bar Association on Wednesday. The two Bar Associations have been demanding a bench of the Bombay High Court. The Bombay High Court has jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa and union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. On Wednesday, members of the Kolhapur Bar Association met Fadnavis, who assured them that the state would allocate funds for the basic infrastructure to set up the Kolhapur bench of the High Court.

Advocate Rajendra Daundkar, president of the PBA, said, “We are demanding an explanation from Guardian Minister Girish Bapat on how the Chief Minister has given assurance inclined towards setting up the bench in Kolhapur, when Pune has the ideal scenario to have a HC bench. If he cannot provide us with an explanation, we will hold a morcha in protest.”

Daundkar added, “The decision to set up the bench should not be based on distance but the number of pending cases, which Pune has more of than Kolhapur. Also, the Solapur district bar association has said it would prefer the bench in Pune because of better connectivity. Pune also has a much larger number of administrative and police establishments that have to attend the HC.”