What is the news : The Lakshadweep administration, which has been facing widespread protests over its policies, has mooted a proposal to shift its legal jurisdiction from the Kerala High Court to the Karnataka High Court.

Why such a proposal : The proposal was initiated by the administration after several litigation were moved before the Kerala High Court against the decisions taken by the islands’ new Administrator Praful Khoda Patel. These decisions included revising standard operating procedures for COVID-appropriate behaviour, introduction of the “goonda Act” and demolishing hutments of fishermen for widening of roads.

Who can change the jurisdiction of a high Court :

• Can be shifted only through an act of Parliament, according to the law.
• “Parliament may by law constitute a high court for a Union Territory or declare any court in any such territory to be a high court for all or any of the purposes of this Constitution,” according to Article 241 of the Constitution.
• Section 4 of the same article mentions that “nothing in this article derogates from the power of Parliament to extend or exclude the jurisdiction of a high court for a state to, or from, any Union Territory or part thereof”.

Which are the High Court’s having jurisdiction over more than one state/s or Union Territory/s:

• Bombay High Court- has jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman, Diu, and Goa.
• Kolkata High Court- has jurisdiction over West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• Madras High Court- has jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
• Guwahati High Court- has jurisdiction over Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Kerala High Court- has jurisdiction over Kerala and Lakshadweep Islands.
• Punjab & Haryana High Court- has jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh.