We are a State which has already celebrated the silver jubilee of its statehood four years ago, but regretfully we do not have its own High Court. The views expressed by Anacleto Viegas, a very learned and experienced advocate from South Goa is absolutely right and an urgent legal necessity that Goa should have its own High Court, as mandated by Article 214 of the Constitution of India.
Goa must have its own High Court for free, fair and speedy dispensation of justice. Thus one must be in conformity with Advocate Viegas` opinion that in a nascent state of Telangana, the legal fraternity has demanded for establishing their own High Court, all the more we in Goa must raise our demands to have our own High Court.
Our state has made tremendous progress in the legal field as learned Goans who were practicing advocates were chosen and elevated to the Constitutional legal position and appointed as Chief Justices of High Courts. Goa already had two of its sons, Mr Justice Ferdino Rebello and Mr Justice Gurudas Kamat who were elevated as Chief Justices of High Court of Allahabad and Gujarat respectively.
Recently the former Advocate General of Goa, Atmaram Nadkarni has been appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India to represent the Union Government.
The people of Goa through the historic Opinion Poll have four decades ago decided against merger of our State with the State of Maharashtra, but yet are in control of Maharashtrian judiciary as the highest judiciary body in the state, since the Union Government has failed to establish a High Court for Goa.
Hence the present system of judicial supervision from High Court of Bombay is a back door merger of our State to the State of Maharashtra, as the third pillar of democracy which is the judicial wing is in the hands of another State for which our citizens fought vehemently against it.
Besides Goa has a distinctive legal feature of having a Uniform Portuguese Civil Code governing marriage and property rights of its citizens for which only the legal fraternity practicing in Goa is familiar with.
At present there is a considerable delay for judicial decisions or else can one explain the strange reason that it takes more than a decade for final disposal of a writ petition filed in the High Court of Bombay at Goa after its admission. Thus the financially weaker citizen of the minority community is unable to sustain the prolonged litigation.
As the administration of the High Court is in the hands of Maharashtra there are many clerical employees recruited that do belong to Goa and are not familiar with the Konkani language.
One of the Constitutional obligations of a State Government is the dispensation of justice without much delay, as justice delayed is justice buried.
Therefore it is imperative upon our State Government to take the initiative and impress upon the Central Government to establish High Court of Goa, just as lately the Union of India has resolved to change the names of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras High Courts to Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.
