There are 2,63,697 cases pending in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court as of October 2012, the UP government informed the Assembly today.
The declaration came during Question Hour as parliamentary affairs minister Azam Khan responded to a query by BJP member Suresh Kumar Khanna regarding the setting up of a high court bench in western UP to expedite clearing of cases.
Khan told the House it was the central government which had to take a decision on the issue and noted that two chief ministers - Mulayam Singh Yadav in 1984 and Mayawati in 1995 - had written to the then prime ministers on the need for an additional bench.
Responding to supplementaries, Khan agreed that delays in the justice delivery system were creating problems for people not only in the western region but also in some of the eastern districts of the state and if the members so desired, another letter could be dispatched pressing for a new bench.
When Congress member Pramod Tewari pointed out that the high court had only around 80 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 160, Khan said the state government could consider writing to the Centre on the matter.
The seat of the Uttar Pradesh High Court is at Allahabad and it has a permanent bench in state capital Lucknow.
