Maharashtra govt offers Bombay HC advance possession of 30-acre land for new court complex in Bandra

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Sandeep Marne 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 petitioner argued that he got updates only through media reports. “But there was no formal resolution from the government,” he added. Abdi said he filed a plea in 2012, seeking a new building for the High Court on a priority basis. A bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka (currently Supreme Court judge) in January 2019 directed the state to take a decision. The government “completely failed and deliberately ignored” to take steps based on the order, Abdi claimed. In March, the government, however, was asked to comply with previous High Court orders.

On March 30, AG Saraf had told the Bombay High Court that an approval had been given to grant 30.16 acre for the new Bombay High Court complex in the Bandra (East) government residential colony. The state Public Works Department (PWD) agreed to surrender the land to be reserved for the new High Court complex.

The PWD said that 8.5 hectare (21.004 acre) of land will be allotted for the judicial complex and residences of judges, while 3.63 hectare (8.969 acre) will be commercially developed for central tribunal and lawyers’ chambers and the government will receive revenue from it.

The Indian Express (on October 24, 2022) had first reported that the state is 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 be soon allotted in Mumbai’s Bandra (East). All issues related to the matter were resolved, they said.

On May 19, the state Revenue Department issued an order authorising the transfer of 30 acre 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. The High Court will hear the plea next on July 9.