February 2, 2026
Sushmita Dev’s Zero Hour mention on the setting up a bench of the Gauhati High Court in the Barak Valley
Mr. Chairman, Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity. Sir, justice delayed is justice denied, and access to justice cannot just be a privilege, it is a basic right of every human being. In that spirit, various provisions of the law and the Constitution of India has empowered several High Courts, which are based in the capital of most States, to set up additional benches or circuit courts within the State, which is away from the principal seat. Sir, today, I rise to put forth in this House an important demand that emanates from a remote area, Barak Valley, in the State of Assam. We have been demanding a circuit bench or a permanent bench of the Guwahati High Court in an appropriate location in the three districts of Barak Valley in Assam. Sir, if you recollect, in 1981, the Justice Jaswant Singh Committee, a retired Judge, was set up to look exactly as to how to ensure that there is equality of opportunity and access to justice. There were various reasons, and one of the criteria that was given for the High Courts, to extend this facility, was long distances. Barak Valley is 350 kilometers away from the High Court of Guwahati. Sir, six months in a year, our rail and roadways do not work because of which we cannot reach Guwahati. Apart from that, Article 39A of the Constitution says that opportunities to secure justice cannot be denied to any citizen by reasons of economic disability. So, I also want to say that just giving digital access to the High Courts is not in consonance with Article 39A of the Constitution. Last but not the least, the North Eastern Areas Reorganization Act 1971, Section 31(2), amended in 2012, and, further, Section 51 of the States’ Reorganization Act 1956 also allows for the President of India, in consultation with the Governor of the State and the Chief Justice of India, to set up another seat for the High Court, which I demand for Barak Valley. It has been discussed before in 2014 and 2015, but, since then, 10 years have elapsed and much has changed, whether it is the population, whether it is the number of litigants and whether it is our circumstances where even Secretariats have been set up in Barak Valley and Dibrugarh. So, I see no reason why an additional bench of the hon. High Court of Guwahati should not be set up in the Barak Valley districts of Assam. Thank you, Sir.
