Bombay HC building with heritage value should be preserved: Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya
The Bombay High Court also said that shifting to the proposed new complex in Bandra (East) was important and that it was the duty of the state government and the HC administration to ensure this was done at the earliest.
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The Indian Express had on October 24, 2022, first reported that the state was planning to allot land for the new high court complex. (File) Bombay High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya on Wednesday said that the construction of a new high court complex on land allotted in Bandra (East) was an important matter and that the heritage and archaeological value of the current over-150-year-old high court building should be maintained and preserved.
A bench of Chief Justice Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor was hearing a petition by lawyer Ahmed Abdi that claimed non-compliance by the government of a 2018 high court order on land allotment. The bench said that it was the duty of the state government and the high court administration to ensure that the work is shifted to the new complex at the earliest once it is constructed so that the pressure on the present heritage building is reduced.
“This (current High Court) building is 150 years old. It has not only archaeological value but also has to be preserved. There is so much footfall, so it should be preserved as is. Let us maintain the heritage,” the court said.
The state government on June 14 had informed the high court that it had decided to give advance possession of 30 acres of land at the government colony in Bandra (East) for the construction of the new high court complex.
On March 30, Advocate General (AG) Birendra Saraf, for the state government, had told the high court that approval had been given to grant 30.16 acres for the new complex and the state public works department (PWD) had agreed to surrender the land to be reserved for the new high court complex.
The PWD had said that 8.5 hectares (21.004 acres) of land would be allotted for the judicial complex and residences of judges, while 3.63 hectares (8.969 acres) would be commercially developed for the central tribunal and lawyers’ chambers and the government would receive revenue from it.
The Indian Express had on October 24, 2022, first reported that the state was planning to allot land for the new high court complex. A decision in this regard, a senior official had said, was then taken in a meeting between former Chief Justice Dipankar Datta (now a Supreme Court judge) and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held in the last week of August.
In November, Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while speaking at a felicitation ceremony for then Chief Justice of India (CJI) U U Lalit, said the land would soon be allotted in Bandra (East) and all issues related to the matter had been resolved.
On May 19 this year, the state revenue department issued an order authorising the transfer of 30 acres of land for the construction of a new court complex. A communication was sent by the revenue department to the high court offering advance possession of the 30-acre land.
On Wednesday, AG Saraf told the bench that the high power committee comprising representatives of the Chief Justice, the chief minister and principal secretaries of all concerned departments of the state was looking into the issue and sought that the committee be given more time to consider the issue and come to a decision.
The bench also said that there will be internal consultations and the decision can be made in a time-bound manner. The court also suggested the state government ensure that the land use was changed from residential to commercial use at the earliest, without which the matter may not progress.
The bench then adjourned the matter by three weeks and said that the HPC would have reported its decision by then. It also assured the petitioner that if required, it would even call for an affidavit on the work done by the HPC.
The high court will hear the plea next on August 30.
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