Release Land Allotted For New Bombay HC Building So That Construction Can Start Soon : Supreme Court To Maharashtra Govt
The Supreme Court today (May 17) asked the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court to expedite the process of finalising the architect and design plan for the new High Court building. The Court further directed the State Government to take immediate steps to release the first tranche of land for the construction of the new building to commence. The Court stated that the Government need not wait...
The Supreme Court today (May 17) asked the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court to expedite the process of finalising the architect and design plan for the new High Court building.
The Court further directed the State Government to take immediate steps to release the first tranche of land for the construction of the new building to commence. The Court stated that the Government need not wait till December 2024 to allot the entire 9.64 acres for the HC.
The special bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice BR Gavai and Justice JB Pardiwala, was hearing a suo moto petition regarding the heritage building of the Bombay High Court and the issue of additional land allotment.
The Court noted that it will be imperative for the Maharashtra Government to release the pending 9.64 acres of the land before the set deadline of December 2024, so that the construction as per the selected design plan can start at the earliest. The CJI asked the Maharashtra Advocate General Mr Birendra Saraf to expedite the handing over process in the month of Septemeber itself, after the monsoons end.
" Mr Saraf you expedite this 9.6 acres by the 1st of September, by then the monsoons will also go"
The Court in the order passed, observed the following :
" We direct the Maharashtra Government to release the first tranche of land for the construction to commence. The Government of Maharashtra need not wait till December 2024 to hand over the entire 9.64 acre of land."
In terms of the progress on acquiring alternative areas for the shifting of the Bombay High Court, the Court noted that state authorities have been able to procure a leave and license agreement with the following entities to get a part of their premises for running the High Court, these include (1) 18000 square feet of the area from Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) ; (2) 8000 square feet of the area from the premises of the Central Telegraph Office (CTO); (3) 12000 square feet of the area from the premises of Bank of India.
The Solicitor General (SG) also informed the bench that as per the suggestions of the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, three options were given to the committee led by the High Court Chief Justice on the procedure for selecting a design plan - (1) holding a design competition; (2) taking design suggestions from 4-5 renowned architects and then finalising one of them and (3) holding a public tender. The High Court committee seems to go ahead with the second option of floating an expression of interest to renowned architects and selecting a design amongst them.
During the hearing concerns about having an independent arbitration centre in Bombay were also raised. The SG submitted that while the State Government is contemplating having the Centre in the vicinity of Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), there is also a possibility to use the vacant floors in the Air India building near the High Court.
"Bombay needs an independent arbitration centre, there is an Air India building, 1-2 floors are vacant, the Advocate General submitted that there is contemplation for having it in the Kurla area ....however we will contemplate about the Air India building."
On the last hearing, the Court directed the Maharashtra Public Works Department to conduct a structural and safety audit of the present Bombay High Court building in Fort, Mumbai before monsoon, since the heritage building is nearly 150 years old and construction of a new building for the High Court will take a few years.
"In order to ensure the structural safety of the existing building of the HC, the PWD shall immediately have a structural audit of the existing premises carried out, so that this court can be apprised on the safety and other aspects of the existing building. The court can be apprised on the next hearing of the steps taken on that regard."
The court also directed a meeting to be conducted among the Chief Justice of the High Court, the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, and representatives of the Union government to decide upon a common building to provide temporary alternative accommodation for the HC. It asked the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta to also attend the meeting online.
It may be noted that previously, the Bombay High Court had asked the Maharashtra Government to consider land in Goregaon for a new HC complex despite land allotment for the same in Bandra as well as the state's submission that significant progress has been made to hand over vacant possession of the land.
The Supreme Court took up the issue of land allotment for the High Court building based on a letter petition sent by various bar associations active in Mumbai.
Case Details : IN RE: HERITAGE BUILDING OF THE BOMBAY HIGH COURT AND ALLOTMENT OF ADDITIONAL LANDS FOR THE HIGH COURT