Bombay High Court Asks State To Consider Land In Goregaon For New High Court Complex

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the State government to explore the availability of land in Goregaon for the construction of a new High Court complex, in place of the previously allocated area in Bandra.

“This is only a loud thinking on my part, we can just explore it. Vacant land is available (in Goregaon). By this speed we will be having the high court building by 2031”, Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya remarked.

The court clarified that this is tentative, and will not stop the State from declaring the current project in Bandra as public project of vital importance.

A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice AS Doctor was hearing a disposed of PIL filed by Advocate Ahmed Abdi for compliance. In 2019 the HC injuncted the State from taking any decision on a 44-acre plot at Bandra East plot till it took a stand on the new court complex.

Despite Advocate General Birendra Saraf's insistence that substantial progress has been made towards initiating the project at Bandra, the court urged the state to consider the Goregaon land especially if it could be accessed via the proposed coastal road.

The court pointed out that no displacement of existing structures in the Bandra land has taken place. Consequently, the court requested the government to provide a rough sketch of the area from which the proposed coastal road will pass illustrating accessibility via the coastal road.

The state submitted an affidavit giving details of the steps taken so far for handing over the vacant land for construction of the new HC building. The affidavit states that the proposed High Court complex forms part of a special project for the redevelopment of over 89 acres of land in Bandra, with assistance from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCH) of the Republic of South Korea.

During the proceedings, Saraf informed the Court that out of 30.16 acres of land earmarked for a new High Court building in Bandra, a portion of 13.73 acres is expected to be available by March 2025.

Saraf further said that the state will designate this project as a public project of vital importance by June 2024, so that state can exercise special powers to remove encroachment from the land.

The bench pointed out that the Chhattisgarh Government allotted 100 acres for the Chhattisgarh High Court building. However, Saraf said that the value and availability of land in Mumbai cannot be compared to Chhattisgarh.

Saraf highlighted that a vacant 300-acre plot was available in Goregaon, but a substantial portion of that land is now allotted to MNLU, as the HC had earlier rejected the land due to accessibility issues.

AG Saraf proposed further discussion on this matter at an administrative meeting with government officials, highlighting progress already made at Bandra.

The court clarified that while it won't obstruct the government from declaring the currently allotted area in Bandra as a special area for a public project of vital importance, it sees potential in exploring land availability in Goregaon.

In January 2019 the High Court instructed the State government to decide on offering a suitable plot for the new High Court complex. Subsequently, in May 2023, the Maharashtra government requested the High Court administration to take possession of certain land in Bandra East for this purpose. However the land is currently occupied by government officials' staff quarters, the affidavit states.

Case no. – PIL/57/2012 [Original]

Case Title – Ahmad M. Abdi v. State Of Maharashtra and Ors.