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The Member of Parliament and Senior Advocate P. Wilson has written a letter to the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana requesting establishment of permanent regional benches of the Apex Court in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai apart from the Constitutional bench in Delhi.

The letter states, "The principle of access to justice has been indelibly etched in our Constitution. In order to ensure that access to justice is available at a grass root level, the Supreme Court of India must be easily approachable and available to the poor and marginalized communities across the length and breadth of this vast nation."

The letter further alleges that even though the Supreme Court does not distinguish between rich or poor, it is now a fact that de facto Article 32 is now practically available only to:

(i) citizens who are geographically close to the Supreme Court and 

(ii) the financially privileged class to whom costs of litigation and travel does not matter. 

"The recourse under Article 32 cannot be deprived due to economic factors, and such a situation is antithetical to the constitutional mandate under Article 39," the letter adds.

The letter also mentions that the Standing Committees of Parliament recommended setting up of Regional Benches of the Supreme Court 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.

The 107th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice which was tabled before both the Houses on 16.3.2021, has also recommended for the establishment of Regional Benches of the Supreme Court, the letter adds.

Listing down the benefits of establishing the Permanent Regional Benches, in the letter, Wilson has stated that the number of Judges on the Bench would increase. This would lead to more speedy disposal of cases and clearing the backlog of pending cases, the letter reads.

"That apart, the Judge to population ratio of the Apex Court would increase. Another benefit is that the Judges of the Hon'ble Supreme Court can choose to be closer to their hometowns. Therefore, looking at it from any angle, the establishment of PRBs is the need of the hour," the letter states.