New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) The government has rejected claims that it has decided to expand the "branches" of the Supreme Court to three more locations. The Press Information Bureau 'fact check' tweeted on Tuesday that the claim was "fake".

"A forwarded message is being shared on WhatsApp claiming that the government has decided to expand the branches of the Supreme Court of India to three more locations.This claim is fake," the tweet said.

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It said "no such decision" has been taken by the government.

The government has on multiple occasions informed Parliament that the idea of opening a separate bench of the apex court outside Delhi has not found favour with the Supreme Court.

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In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha in September last year, the then Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said representations were received from time to time from various quarters for setting up of Supreme Court benches in various parts of the country.

"The Law Commission, in its 229th report, had also suggested that a Constitution Bench be set up at Delhi and four cassation benches be set up in the northern region at Delhi, the southern region at Chennai/Hyderabad, the eastern region at Kolkata and the western region at Mumbai. "The idea of a separate Bench of Supreme Court outside Delhi has not found favour with the Supreme Court of India," he had said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)