The Constitutional Rights Forum (CRF) has urged Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to establish a bench of the Meghalaya High Court in Garo Hills to strengthen judicial infrastructure and provide better facilities and services to litigants.
The forum raised challenges in accessing justice due to the distance and lack of connectivity between Garo Hills and the Meghalaya High Court in Shillong in the letter to the Chief Minister and cited lack of proper roads and communication facilities that makes it difficult for people to travel to Shillong for justice.
It pointed out that the cost of travelling to Shillong, accommodation, and other expenses is a significant burden on litigants as well as delays in the disposal of cases due to distance, causing undue hardship to litigants.
The CRF referred to an RTI and said each of the five districts in Garo Hills (East, West, South, North and South West Garo Hills districts), generates approximately 250-300 case records annually over the last decade, totalling around 1,250-1,500 case records per year for the entire region.
“This underscores the need for a local High Court Bench to expedite the delivery of justice,” the forum said.
