Chandigarh, Feb. 15 -- The central government told the Lok Sabha on Friday that no proposal for establishing a separate high court (HC) for Haryana is currently pending with the Centre. Union minister of state (independent charge) for law, Arjun Ram Meghwal, replying to an unstarred question by the Congress MP from Ambala, Varun Chaudhary, said that while the Haryana government requested the establishment of a separate high court at Chandigarh, the Punjab government did not agree with the proposal. "The views of the Punjab and Haryana high court and Punjab government were sought in the matter. The high court in its full court meeting resolved not to offer any view. The Punjab government did not agree with the proposal. At present, no proposal for the establishment of a separate high court for Haryana is pending with the government," Meghwal said in a written response. The reply by the Union minister of state for law is identical to what he had told the Lower House on December 20, 2024. The Congress MP had asked whether the establishment of a separate high court for Haryana was under consideration. He also sought to know the reasons for not considering the proposal. The then Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, Shadi Lal Batra, had introduced a private member's Bill - The High Court of Haryana Bill in May 2012. The bill's statement of objects and reasons said that every state has a fundamental right to provide legal protection to every citizen and the litigants must get justice at the earliest possible. The separation of the Punjab and Haryana high court would not only fulfil the long pending demand of Haryana but also serve the interest of the people of the state. "Carving of Haryana would not be complete till the state is given its own high court in Chandigarh. Hence, it is felt that there should be a separate high court for Haryana in Chandigarh," the Bill said. It further said that under Article 214 of the Constitution, it is compulsory that there should be a separate high court for each state. This constitutional provision must be implemented by the Union government. Chandigarh is the most suitable place for establishing the principal seat of the proposed high court for Haryana although benches may also be established at other places in the State. The system of a common high court for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh had caused consistent backwardness in the legal system in Haryana because there are only district level bar councils confined to the districts only. As such, the legal system in the state has not developed to the desired levels. Similarly, it has also been observed that Haryana is not getting its adequate place in the benches of the common high court and also in the secretariat of the common high court. The state of Haryana was carved out in the ratio of 40:60 from the erstwhile Punjab state and Chandigarh was made a Union Territory. In this pattern, even the Assembly seats were divided and Haryana was given the Assembly building. On the similar analogy, the high court of Punjab and Haryana be divided in the similar ratio in the same high court premise in Chandigarh itself. The present high court building is sufficient to accommodate two separate high courts, the Bill which lapsed in April 2018 reads. Haryana's demand for a separate high court is not a recent one. The Vidhan Sabha had passed resolutions on March 14, 2002 (during INLD rule), December 15, 2005 ( during Congress rule) and May 4, 2017 ( during BJP rule) seeking the bifurcation of the Punjab and Haryana high court and the creation of a separate HC for Haryana. The argument taken by Haryana is that the disposal of cases would be swift and the judicial system would get further strengthened....