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Six months have gone by since the parliament passed the bill for establishment of a separate High Court of Manipur, besides the states of Tripura and Meghalaya. Yet, the matters of High Court continue to operate from the principal seat of Gauhati and we are yet to have a separate High Court till date. The related bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on May 11 this year and subsequently in the Rajya Sabha. And the President Pratibha Patil had signed the North Eastern Areas (Reorganization) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) bill on June 7. Still, the Indian government is not yet decided on the strength of the state High Court. The local High Court Bar Association has been putting up a demand for a seven member High Court with judges drawn from the state bar and bench. On the other hand, the central government wants a four member court that too with judges from outside the state. In protest, the state lawyers had gone on cease work strike and the functioning of the Imphal bench of the Gauhati High Court is now paralysed. The institution of a separate high court for Manipur had been a long-standing demand of the state legal fraternity. And it was justified considering all the practical problems faced by litigants and in the interests of timely justice delivery. The state of Manipur could have had a separate High court when it attained statehood in 1972 as per the Constitution. It did not materialize then and it remained content with a bench of the Gauhati High Court. In the present case of Manipur, the physical infrastructure has come into place with the inauguration of functioning of the Imphal bench of the Gauhati High Court in the spacious new complex with seven courtrooms at Chingmeirong on April 7 this year. The problem of inadequate courtrooms and of space constraints has been solved. On the other hand, there is no dearth of good lawyers and other legal professionals in the state. And there are enough deserving candidates for judgeship in the state legal fraternity. The state has two judges in the Gauhati High Court in Justice T Nandakumar and Justice N Koteshore. While the state Bar association is demanding a separate High Court consisting of seven judges the centre seems to be opting for four members which is nothing but lip service. While the state Bar seeks the elevation or appointment of deserving advocates and judicial officers as judges to the separate High Court, the Indian Government is looking for candidates of non-state origin from the Gauhati High Court. The demand of the state Bar is not without merit considering the overflowing talent in the state Bar and Bench and the years of lost opportunities. Besides, the registry at Imphal Bench has a high pendency rate. Although the number of pending cases in Imphal had come sown in the recent times following the Uma Devi vs Karnataka case, 6000 pending cases is still huge for the bench. Even with the introduction of IT connectivity, there are still many practical problems in the administrative set-up. With the passage of time, the backlog of cases which need immediate hearing and disposal, is multiplying. So, there is an urgent need for resolving the issue at hand. Any delay in establishing the separate High court will certainly lead to multiplicity of problems. So, the central government needs to pull up its socks and take a decision in this regard so as ensure timely delivery of justice and judicial reforms in the state.
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