Gauhati HC unique for serving all NE states for greater part of its existence: Himanta

In 2013, three full-fledged high courts were established at Imphal, Shillong and Agartala but even today it exercises judicial authority over the four states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, the chief minister said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that the identity of the Gauhati High Court is unique as, for a greater part of its existence, it served all seven states of the North East region. The Gauhati High Court has jurisdiction over an incredibly diverse region - geographically, ethnographically and culturally, Sarma said while speaking at the court's Platinum Jubilee celebration. This court, earlier known as the High Court of Assam, was established on August 14, 1948, and had its first session at Shillong but it was later shifted to Guwahati. Sarma pointed out that till 1971, the court exercised judicial authority over the entire North East but after the reorganisation of Assam that year, it was renamed as the Gauhati High Court and benches were created for Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. In 2013, three full-fledged high courts were established at Imphal, Shillong and Agartala but ''even today it exercises judicial authority over the four states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh'', the chief minister said. The Gauhati High Court has carried forward this ''uniqueness with utmost responsibility and set new standards in the justice delivery system,'' Sarma said. The court has played the role of a saviour for the common people by standing by them in their testing times and has always risen to the occasion to ensure that the civil rights of individuals were protected, he said. ''During the dark days of the emergency, it sought to provide relief to the political detainees by asserting that the writ of habeas corpus was maintainable despite the provisions of the emergency,'' he said. This court not only admitted writ petitions but on several occasions also stayed the press censorship orders imposed on various newspapers and periodicals, the chief minister pointed out. During the six-year-long Assam movement against the infiltration of foreigners, the court again rose to the occasion and ensured that the civil rights of the people were not taken away, Sarma said. He said the importance of the Gauhati High Court and its glorious heritage is evident as President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India Y V Chandrachud, several union ministers, Chief Justices and judges will grace the Platinum jubilee celebrations. The President will attend the celebrations on April 7 along with the CJI and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju. The Prime Minister will attend the concluding day of the celebration on April 14. Sarma released the Assamese version of the book ''Gauhati High Court: History and Heritage''. Rijiju released a commemorative stamp of the high court on the occasion. Gauhati High Court's Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta released the platinum edition of the magazine 'Atman'.

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