Judicial complex entangled in red tape

For,right from the scratch the Central Government had been delaying the progress of the project on one pretext or the other.

It took the Ministry of Law and Justice more than one and half year to grant sanction of the administrative approval for the project. Not even a single brick was laid till July 8,2008,when the ministry finally gave the nod. The budget of the court complex is Rs 18.6 crore but till date only Rs 2 crore has been released by the Centre.

The District Bar Association is also bearing the brunt of the delay as the construction of the lawyers’ chambers also stand delayed on account of the non-release of funds. It is pertinent to mention here that another dispute with regard to the project cropped up on August 8,2008 when the Ministry of Homes Affairs in an official communiqué informed the UT Administration that any escalation in the cost of the project beyond the budget (Rs 18.60 crore) will be borne by the UT Administration.

In response to this,the Chandigarh Administration has communicated to the Ministry that it is a hundred per cent funded project by the Government of India and the additional expenditure has to be spent by the ministry and the dispute continues to be unresolved.

The Central Government has already received repeated dressing down from the High Court on account of the delay.

Gautam,the contractor,who has been allotted the project,said,“Since April no money has been released. The project is likely to be delayed by more than a year. Moreover,the escalation of costs will further cause delay in the construction.”

Expressing concern,Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar,said,“We have been repeatedly writing to the Central Government to release the remaining amount but to no avail. We are deeply concerned that the project is getting delayed.”

On the other hand,the District Bar Association has decided to file an application seeking directions to the Central Government to release the money. The Bar has always been emphasizing that the construction of the court complex and lawyers’ chambers should be completed simultaneously.

Moreover,the cost of construction of the chambers has to be borne by the members of the Bar Association,however,the construction cannot be started unless the double storey basement is constructed by the Chandigarh Administration for which the budget is yet to be prepared.

“We are going to apprise the High Court of the indifferent attitude of the Central Government. Many lawyers have already submitted applications for construction of chambers but it’s of no use unless the money for court complex is released,” said Advocate Mukesh Mittal,President of the District Bar Association.