Set up regional bench of Supreme Court in Bengaluru: Karnataka MP in Rajya Sabha
BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka KC Ramamurthy on Thursday moved a Zero Hour notice in the Upper House of Parliament demanding setting up four regional benches of the Supreme Court across the country including in Bengaluru. Speaking on the same, he said that the apex court bench in Delhi can concentrate on constitutional matters and the other benches can focus on appeals. The IPS officer-turned-politician opined that this move will reduce the pendency of the high number of cases. As of February 2021, the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court is at 66,000 (approximately) according to a Parliamentary committee report.
The demand for setting up of a SC bench in Bengaluru is not new. In January 2018, then Karnataka Industries Minister RV Deshpande had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making Bengaluru the winter capital of the country. Deshpande in that regard suggested a second seat of Supreme Court in Bengaluru, along with a second office of the Union Public Service Commission. He said as part of this, the Winter Session of the Parliament can be conducted in Bengaluru.
Ramamurthy who was with the Congress till late 2019, got re-elected to the Rajya Sabha on December 5 of 2019 on a BJP ticket. In his tenure as a Rajya Sabha MP he has been a member of the Standing Committee of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Law and Justice. He had retired from the IPS voluntarily in 2007 when he was serving as the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic & Security).
He was also rumored to join the JD(S) in 2014 after he failed to secure a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections with Congress. Outside politics, he is also the Chairman of the which runs the private CMR University and has been previously associated with the Bangalore University as its registrar.