Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai on Sunday inaugurated the Kolhapur Circuit Bench of the Bombay High Court, making it the fifth seat after Mumbai, Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Goa. The new bench will serve six districts - Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg - providing long-awaited judicial access to citizens in Western Maharashtra.
The demand for a bench at Kolhapur had been pending for more than four decades. Lawyers and litigants had repeatedly voiced concerns over the travel and costs involved in reaching Mumbai. CJI Gavai called the inauguration the fulfillment of a "long-cherished dream", recalling how advocates had struggled for over 45 years to bring justice closer to the region.
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"When I supported the bench, I did not think of lawyers but of poor citizens who spent nights traveling to Mumbai for land disputes and paid thousands of rupees for stay. Today, justice will reach their doorstep," CJI Gavai said.
The Kolhapur bench will function from the renovated 1874 heritage District Court building opposite CPR Hospital, restored with a ₹46 crore budget. The premises now include a Division Bench courtroom, two Single Bench courtrooms, mediation centre, judge chambers, government offices, and modern record-keeping facilities.
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The event was attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe, and several dignitaries. CJI Gavai also urged for the bench to be made permanent, stressing that the move would strengthen constitutional values of social, economic, and political justice.
He predicted that within the next decade, Kolhapur would emerge as a hub of judicial talent, producing future High Court and even Supreme Court judges.
