Meerut: Court Work To Be Hit In Western UP As Lawyers Protest For HC Bench On Saturday

Lawyers across all 22 districts of Western Uttar Pradesh will hold a simultaneous protest on Saturday, abstaining from judicial work to press their long-standing demand for a High Court bench in the region. The protest is being organised under the banner of the Central Struggle Committee (Kendriya Sangharsh Samiti).

The committee announced its plans at a press conference on Friday, stating that the goal is to transform the demand into a public movement. To this end, they have garnered support from political parties, including the BJP, as well as social organisations, trade unions, and farmers' groups.

In Meerut, the protest will feature a foot march starting at 10:30 am from the court house to Begumpul. There, a two-hour demonstration, including a human chain, will be held from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Committee leaders claimed the march is receiving support from all quarters and that thousands of people are expected to participate.

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'Only Prayagraj Is Protesting'

Officials from the struggle committee argued that the demand for a bench in the west, a movement that has been ongoing for 50 years, is being opposed only by the city of Prayagraj and some of its advocates. They claimed that people in Western UP are struggling to get justice due to the distance to the High Court and a massive backlog of pending cases.

"There is no opposition to it in Purvanchal; in fact, various districts including Gorakhpur and Banaras are themselves demanding a bench and are also supporting our cause," a committee official stated. They cited the recent establishment of a High Court bench in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, for a population of 15 million across four districts, arguing that a bench is justified for the tens of millions of people across Western UP's 22 districts on the principle of "accessible and affordable justice."

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Plan To Meet The Prime Minister

The committee also announced that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Meerut on September 30 for the inauguration of the Meerut Metro, they will seek an appointment to meet with him and present their demand directly.