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The Judicial Institution rejected the suggestion of the State government which proposed to allot land in Gorgeon for the New High Court Complex. The Court ignored the suggestion because of the remoteness of accessibility to the Court for the citizens. The Hon’ble Bench of the High Court of Bombay granted verdict on the matter reserved on October 31, 2018. The Court directed the State government to reconsider not allotting advocate chambers but allotting land in Bandra for the New High Court Complex.
A PIL has been filed by the president of the Bombay Lawyers Association in 2012. Insofar as the old High Court Building is concerned, the library could not accommodate a large number of people. Statistically, According to the submissions made by Senior Counsel Milind Sathe of the BBA, the present High Court is 156 Years old, and it has a membership of 5,000 with an increase of 300 to 400 in the membership every year. The present library holds more than 7 lakh periodicals, journals etc. and space is not sufficient to occupy the members by reason of which the place continues to remain overcrowded.
The Old High Court was established under a charter issued by her Queen Majesty in the year 1862. The construction of the court began in the year 1878 and commenced in the year 1879. Despite authorising the appointment of fifteen judges through Letters Patent, the court has been functioning only with seven judges. The material on record reiterates the fact that the present complex comprises of seven courts in the second floor. The sanctioned strength of Judges for the Bombay High Court is Ninety Four. In view of the number of vacancies, i.e. fifty, it is imperative to expand the Court Complex.
The Court through its previous order issued the same direction to the State Government. All the stakeholders such as the BBA, Advocates’ Association of Western India, Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa endorsed the previous orders of the High Court and mutually agreed that there is a requirement for establishing the new court complex in a central area of Mumbai.
The State Government said in a meeting that the availability of 6 acres of land in the Govt. Colony in Bandra was nothing compared to 50 acres of land as claimed by the government in the previous affidavits. Another Senior Counsel VA Thorat contended that lack of funds is not a sufficient ground. Therefore, a judicial institution, which has been serving the judicial needs of the citizens for 156 years, requires a new high court complex in the central area of Mumbai.
All the stakeholders agreed with the submissions made before the High Court, and they also suggested to refer the State-of-the-art facilities constructed at the Allahabad High Court and Saket District Court Complex. Nonetheless, ASG Anil Singh differed in his view stating that the land proposed to be allotted in Pahadi must be accepted by the High Court Administration due to the scarcity of lands in Mumbai.
Having noted the significance of the Heritage of the existing Court Complex, the court said that it should be preserved. In light of the administration of justice by the High Court, the submissions made should be accepted. Although the petition does not contain anything about the heritage of the institution, the heritage of the institution must be maintained. The Court noted the statement made on the affidavit filed by the state government. The affidavit contained that only 30 hectares of land is available in Bandra for redevelopment, and 11.68 acres could be acquired commercially. However, the court dissented to this submission as the construction of the court complex is not a commercial venture. Therefore, the Bench observed that the cost of construction of the high court complex would allegedly come from the consideration received from the sale of those 11.68 hectares of land. It is to this statement the court dissented stating that the construction of Court Complex is not a commercial venture, and the state government cannot deny more area for the court complex on commercial considerations. The Court agreed to the remoteness of the place suggested by the state government for the new court complex. The Court directed the state government to decide on mobilising the additional area of 11.68 hectare in Bandra within six months, and to reconsider allocating land for advocates’ chambers within the next three months.
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