Kolhapur, August :

Chief Justice of India Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai on Sunday inaugurated the new circuit bench of the Bombay High Court at Kolhapur, marking a historic moment for the judiciary in Western Maharashtra.

With this, the Bombay High Court now functions from five locations – its principal seat in Mumbai, and benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad, Goa, and now Kolhapur.

The demand for a bench at Kolhapur had been pending for over two decades, as litigants and lawyers from Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts were compelled to travel long distances to Mumbai for hearings. The new bench is expected to ease their hardship and improve access to justice in the region.

The notification for setting up the circuit bench was issued on August 1 by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe of the Bombay High Court.

At the inaugural ceremony, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were present, along with several dignitaries. Justice Shivkumar Dige, earlier posted at the Mumbai principal seat, has now been transferred to preside as the single-judge at the Kolhapur bench.

This step is seen as a significant move towards decentralizing judicial infrastructure and ensuring faster resolution of cases in Western Maharashtra.