Delhi High Court rejects plea to integrate NCR cities with Delhi

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) on Thursday that sought the merger of neighbouring cities such as Meerut, Faridabad and Gurugram with the national capital. The petitioner argued that these cities being distant from their respective jurisdictional high courts, should be incorporated into Delhi.

Additionally, the petitioner proposed the establishment of a new high court for Punjab in Jalandhar, citing inconvenience for residents in places like Amritsar to access the current high court in the union territory of Chandigarh.

The bench, led by acting Chief Justice Manmohan, responded to the petitioner, emphasising that the reorganisation of state territories and the establishment of high courts fall outside the jurisdiction of the high court. The bench, including Justice Manmeet PS Arora, stated, “Why have you come to the court? We are not the Parliament. Parliament does not work under my order. We don’t reorganise the boundaries of states. We don’t decide which high court will function from where. That is not our domain.”

The court highlighted that the petition overlooked Article 3 of the Constitution, which outlines the procedure for forming new states and altering areas, boundaries, or names of existing states. According to the bench, any bill for forming or altering state boundaries must be introduced in Parliament based on the President of India’s recommendation.

“Someone wants us to redraw the map. That’s the only thing that is left,” remarked the court, emphasising the limited scope of its authority in such matters.