8.5 acres inadequate, need more land for expansion to cater to next 50-year requirements, Punjab and Haryana High Court tells Chandigarh Admn

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, February 3

Less than a fortnight after the Chandigarh Administration recommended the allotment of 8.5 acres for the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s horizontal expansion, a Division Bench has made it clear that the area is inadequate, emphasising that the future requirement for the next 50 years had not been considered.

The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta, asserted that the UT Administration, in the letter dated January 23, had recommended allotting only 8.5 acres without a justified basis, as it was not backed by any project report or data.

The Bench clarified that the strength of the high court had increased from nine in 1954 to the current count of 85. The Administration had not examined the facts to form this opinion. The justification for allocating only 8.5 acres did not consider the historical establishment of the high court in 1954.

“There is no data examined by the administration to justify giving only 8.5 acres, especially considering that the holistic plan has not been approved/finalised to date, and it may require modification. Therefore, the letter of the Administration should not be the basis for responding to the Home Ministry, as they have not examined this issue from 1954 till date and for the next upcoming 50 years,” added the Bench.

Appearing before the Bench, Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain submitted that they had sent a letter to the UT Administration seeking further clarification about the land requirement for the high court’s future growth/expansion.

Before concluding the order, the Bench emphasised that more than 8.5 acres were “utmost required” considering the requirements for the next 50 years. Referring to the zonal plan, the Judges added that only three vacant plots had not yet been allotted to any institute in Sarangpur village. The matter will now come up for further consideration on February 6.

The directions came on a plea seeking orders to the Union of India, the Union Territory of Chandigarh, and other respondents to expedite the high court’s “holistic development plan” to reduce the load on the existing building.

One of the petitions in the matter was filed in the public interest by Vinod Dhatterwal, secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees Association, and other petitioners. The Bench was informed that approximately 10,000 lawyers, around 3,300 court employees, nearly 3,000 advocates’ clerks, employees of the advocate-general offices of the two states, security personnel, an unaccountable number of litigants, and other employees from different departments visit the high court daily. No less than 10,000 cars and thousands of two-wheelers also reach the high court. The existing building/premises are unable to bear the load. It has also been contended that there is hardly any space to accommodate more than 5 lakh judicial files pending in the High Court.