⚖️ A Supreme Court Bench for the South: CM Vijay’s Letter to PM Modi

தமிழில் படிக்க ›

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the Union Government to help set up a permanent bench of the Supreme Court in Chennai to serve the southern states. The letter was made public on 5 November 2026.

What the CM Asked

The CM urged the Prime Minister to take the matter up again with the Supreme Court so that it reconsiders its position and decides in favour of a Chennai bench. He called it “a long-pending demand of the State first raised in 1980” and said such a bench would reflect “the true federal character of the nation.”

The Case in the Letter

• Constitution allows it: Article 130 says the Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi “or in such other place or places” as the Chief Justice of India may appoint with the President’s approval.
• Access to justice: today, reaching the Supreme Court is practical mainly for people who live near Delhi or can afford the cost of litigation and travel, leaving many citizens of the South out.
• Parliament agrees: Parliamentary Standing Committees recommended regional benches in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2021, and Law Commission reports have also called for them.
• Chennai is ready: the Madras High Court, set up in 1862, is one of India’s oldest chartered High Courts, backed by a strong Bar. Tamil Nadu has offered infrastructure, including homes for judges.
• Independence stays intact: a regional bench would remain under the full control of the Chief Justice of India.

Where It Stands

A Full Court meeting of the Supreme Court on 7 August 2007 did not accept the idea. The CM noted that this was an administrative resolution, not a judgment, and that the question is now among the issues before a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India in a 2016 writ petition.