Legally Bharat


Justice Bhushan Gavai of the Supreme Court, to much cheer from lawyers and residents of Kolhapur, said on Saturday that he supported the call to have a separate Kolhapur bench of Bombay High Court. “A Kolhapur bench is the need of the hour. It will offer solace and effective, swift access to justice for far-flung residents of the state,” said Justice Gavai, who is in line to become the Chief Justice of India in May 2025.

Justice Gavai, a former Bombay HC judge, was the chief guest for the bhoomi pujan of ‘Advocate Academy and Research Centre’ at Taloja. It is the first of its kind training academy for ‘continuing legal education,’ whose goal should be to make “social engineers” out of young lawyers for the larger benefit of the nation.

It’s a ‘dream project’ of the State Bar Council, said its new chief advocate Sangram Desai and members advocates Harshad Nimbalkar and Uday Warunjikar. Justice Gavai heaped praises on the collaborative efforts to make the dream come true. Desai had persevered with the state for land allotment. The land is worth Rs 32 crore, said Desai’s kin, industries minister Uday Samat, at the event.

Justice Gavai said usually when the issue of a new bench of a high court comes up, there are concerns raised, but he, allaying such concerns, added, “Extra benches do not bring down the reputation of the HC. If not above, they are on par with the principal bench.” He mentioned that the Aurangabad bench of Bombay HC has given four Chief Justices, including Justices S S Shinde and S V Gangapurwala, and one SC Judge in Justice P B Varale.

Justice Varale, speaking at the DY Patil campus where the event was held, said students must not go to social media university to glean knowledge but attend institutions like the proposed academy.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in whose presence the bhoomi pujan was performed, offered Rs 10 crore from govt for the academy. On Kolhapur, he said govt was ready, but the ball was with the HC administration.

There have been representations made on the demand for a separate bench in Kolhapur, citing difficulty in attending either Aurangabad or the principal bench in Mumbai. The Pune lawyers are opposed to such a bench, Justice Gavai acknowledged.

  • Published On Sep 29, 2024 at 09:10 PM IST

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