CJI Gavai inaugurates Kolhapur bench of Bombay HC

Chief Justice of India B R Gavai inaugurated the Bombay High Court’s fourth circuit bench in Kolhapur on Sunday, a move set to ease the burden on litigants and lawyers who previously had to travel 380 km to Mumbai. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde attended the event, marking a significant step toward improving access to justice in the region.

The Kolhapur bench, operational from August 18, joins the Bombay High Court’s existing benches in Mumbai, Nagpur, and Aurangabad, as well as a bench in Goa. It will serve six districts: Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg. The establishment follows years of demands to reduce travel hardships for those seeking justice.

Announced on August 1 by Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe, the Kolhapur bench will feature a division bench led by Justices M S Karnik and Sharmila Deshmukh, alongside two single benches presided over by Justices S G Dige and S G Chapalgaonkar. The division bench will handle a wide range of cases, including Public Interest Litigations, civil writ petitions, family court appeals, contempt appeals, and other civil and criminal matters from the six districts.

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Justice Dige’s single bench will focus on criminal appeals, revision applications, bail applications, and related matters, while Justice Chapalgaonkar’s bench will address civil writ petitions, applications, and other civil cases assigned to a single judge. The new bench is expected to streamline judicial processes and bring faster relief to litigants in western Maharashtra and the coastal Konkan region.

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