112-page memorandum submitted to Chief Justice cites constitutional rights, rising case burden, and hardships faced by litigants from southern Assam
Guwahati: The decades-long demand for a permanent Bench of the Gauhati High Court in Barak Valley has gained renewed momentum after the High Court Bench Demand Implementation Committee’s Cachar district unit submitted a detailed 112-page memorandum to the Chief Justice seeking urgent reconsideration of the issue.
Filed as a continuation of an earlier representation submitted in January this year, the memorandum was signed by senior advocate Dharmananda Deb on behalf of the committee. The document lays out constitutional, legal, infrastructural and administrative grounds supporting the establishment of a permanent Bench in Silchar.
The representation argues that litigants from Cachar, Sribhumi, Hailakandi and Dima Hasao are forced to travel nearly 350 to 400 kilometres to Guwahati for court proceedings, placing heavy financial and logistical pressure on economically weaker sections and rural residents.
The committee further highlighted recurring floods, landslides and fragile transport connectivity in the region, which often disrupt travel and delay access to justice.
Invoking Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, the memorandum stated that affordable and accessible justice is inseparable from the rights to equality and personal liberty. It also cited multiple Supreme Court rulings, including the Anita Kushwaha judgment, to argue that judicial decentralisation is essential for meaningful constitutional justice.
According to the memorandum, more than 4,000 cases from Barak Valley remained pending during the first three months of this year, while the combined population of the four districts exceeds 4.7 million.
Drawing comparisons with the permanent Bench of the Calcutta High Court at Jalpaiguri, the committee argued that Barak Valley possesses equally strong demographic and administrative grounds for a permanent Bench in Silchar.
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