Karnataka High Court - Additional Benches

Additional Benches

The Karnataka High Court is currently functional in Bangalore, Dharwad and Gulbarga. There has been a long standing demand for an additional bench in the northern region of Karnataka. The main reason being the location of Bangalore he south-east corner of the state causes great hardship for people who have to visit the High Court from the distant northern regions of the state. This issue led to lot of agitations including boycott of court proceedings by lawyers in the northern region of Karnataka. The demand was finally met in the year 2006 when it was decided that circuit benches of the High Court would be set up in Dharwad and Gulbarga. Accordingly circuit benches were set up in Dharwad and Gulbarga. They were inaugurated on 4 July 2008 and 5 July 2008 respectively. There is a vocal demand to make both Dharwad and Gulbarga benches, permanent benches. This is especially true for Dharwad bench, as the number of new cases registered at Dharwad bench far exceeds the Gulbarga bench.