Bombay High Court: Deciding on the issue of the primacy of powers to establish the courts of Additional Districts Judge and Court of Civil Judge, Senior Division and what considerations should be taken into account for establishing such courts, the bench comprising of C.V. Oka & C.V Bhandang, JJ., observed that availability of adequate number of cases in the proposed court cannot be the sole criteria for deciding the establishment of a new court for there are other rational criteria which should be taken into account. The issue of access to justice to a common man should be one of the main considerations.
While the State Government has the power to create a sessions division in a judicial district, which was also contended by the petitioner, in contrast the posting & promotion inter-alia is vested on the High Court. Hence, harmonious construction of provisions of Civil Courts Act and CrPC with the constitutional provisions is pivotal. Further, Court held that under the Civil Courts Act and the CrPC, the State Government is empowered to establish a new Court only after consultation with the High Court since under the provisions of Art. 235 of Constitution, the High Courts will have primacy in such matters. [Partur Advocate Bar Association v. State of Maharashtra, 2016 SCC OnLine Bom 2599, decided on 8.02.2016]
