By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The All India Legal Aid Forum (AILAF) has advocated for the need to set up a Circuit Bench of the Supreme Court in each zones of the country to benefit the litigants who often hesitate to approach the highest court of the country.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, AILAF general secretary Jaideep Mukherjee said such Circuit Bench would be of great help to appellants who have to travel all the way to Delhi to file a petition in the Supreme Court.
He informed that only 20 per cent of the litigants appeal to the Supreme Court which makes it even more important to set up a Circuit Bench in each zone of the country.
According to Mukherjee, circuit bench for the North East region can be set up in Kolkata or Guwahati. He also urged the Centre to consider setting up of a High Court in each of the seven states of the Northeast even as the Central Government has taken the decision to set up separate High Courts in three states of the region viz. Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura.
Presently, the Gauhati High Court has benches in Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
Mukherjee was also of the view that the ‘archaic’ British colonial laws like the Lang Acquisition Act of 1894 should be abolished. He also informed that the All India Legal Aid Forum would hold its National Conference at Shillong sometime in October this year.