Madras High Court judge, Justice N Kirubakaran, said on Thursday that having the Supreme Court only in Delhi is an injustice to most citizens of the country, reported The Indian Express.

“The Hon’ble [honourable] Supreme Court is meant for the entire population and not [only] the people living in and around New Delhi,” the judge said in his farewell speech, according to Bar and Bench. “Keeping the Supreme Court in New Delhi alone is injustice done to most of the people.” Kirubakaran retired on Friday.

“It is said the Supreme Court on the administrative side rejected the setting up of regional benches,” Kirubakaran added. “I hope the Honourable Supreme Court would reconsider the decision and permit the setting up of regional benches.”

The judge said that Delhi and Mumbai were the “power centres” in the judiciary and not all states were represented properly in the Supreme Court like the national Capital and Maharashtra.

Kirubakaran added that if the Supreme Court does not make any move to create regional branches, the Centre would need to amend the Constitution to create the same.

Born on August 21, 1959, Kirubakaran has delivered several landmark verdicts during his tenure. These include closing down of liquor shops in Tamil Nadu, declaring that J Deepa and J Deepak are the legal heirs of former state Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and making helmets mandatory for riding two-wheelers.

In a recent case, the judge was part of a division bench that asked the Centre to consider making the Central Bureau of Investigation an autonomous body that would report only to Parliament.

Kirubakaran has also made several impassioned observations during his tenure, according to Bar and Bench.

Kirubakaran was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court on March 31, 2009. He was made a permanent judge on March 29, 2011.

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