CHANDIGARH: Raising the issue of southern Haryana during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Member of Parliament Sanjay Bhatia urged the Union government to establish a circuit bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Gurugram. He described the proposal as a significant step towards strengthening access to justice, judicial decentralisation and ease of doing business.Speaking in the House, Bhatia said that with the Punjab and Haryana High Court functioning only from Chandigarh, litigants, advocates, MSMEs, industrial units and corporate establishments from Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Palwal, Rewari, Mahendragarh and other districts of southern Haryana are forced to travel to Chandigarh for every High Court matter. This, he said, increases litigation costs, travel time and opportunity costs, limiting timely access to justice.Highlighting Gurugram’s growing economic importance, Bhatia said the city has emerged as one of India’s leading IT hubs, a major corporate and financial services centre, a thriving start-up ecosystem and a key driver of industrial growth. He said a large number of commercial disputes, labour matters, land acquisition cases, arbitration proceedings, tax litigation, insolvency matters and constitutional cases originate from the region, making the establishment of a High Court circuit bench a pressing need.The MP also referred to the recently inaugurated Tower of Justice in Gurugram, describing it as a state-of-the-art judicial complex equipped with modern court infrastructure, digital courtrooms and e-Court facilities. According to him, the new judicial infrastructure provides a strong foundation for setting up a circuit bench of the High Court.Emphasising the constitutional basis for the demand, Bhatia cited Article 39A, which requires the State to ensure equal access to justice for all citizens. He further said that the right to speedy justice, recognised under Article 21 as part of the right to life and personal liberty through judicial interpretation, makes judicial decentralisation not merely an administrative reform but a constitutional necessity.Bhatia urged the Central government to conduct a feasibility study, in consultation with the Haryana government, the Punjab and Haryana High Court and other concerned authorities, on establishing a circuit bench in Gurugram. He said the move would make justice more accessible, affordable and timely, help reduce the burden of pending cases, and strengthen the rule of law, investor confidence and ease of doing business in southern Haryana.Notably, this has been a long-pending demand of the Bar and litigants in Haryana for the establishment of a separate High Court bench. Even former Haryana Chief Minister and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has strongly advocated the proposal.
