Maharashtra Govt Offers Advance Possession Of Land For New Building Of Bombay High Court In Bandra East

The Maharashtra Government on Thursday submitted an advance possession letter to the Bombay High Court for the new HC building that will be spread across 30 acres in Bandra East.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Sandeep Marne took the letter on record. The bench, however, decided to continue monitoring the matter as there was still no change in records of rights and reservation of land.

The letter is written by the Tehsildar (Revenue) Mumbai Suburban to the Registrar (Original Side), High Court of Bombay, intimating the advance possession of 30.16 acres of area of ​​Bandra Government Colony for the building.

Accordingly, the matter has now been kept on August 9, 2023 for further directions. The original petitioner was represented by Advocate Eknath Dhokale.

On March 30, 2023, the Maharashtra Government informed the High Court that it will allot 30.16 acres of land for construction of the High Court Complex in Bandra East.

Advocate General Birendra Saraf had informed the court that the Public Works Department has agreed to surrender the land for a new High Court Complex. The process of formal reservation and GR would follow, he had said. The complex would have central tribunals, chambers for lawyers along with judge's chambers, he said, and a circular was handed over by the PWD to the bench.

In 2019, the Bombay High Court had injuncted the state government from taking any decision on a 44-acre Bandra East plot till it took a stand on the new court complex. The High Court had observed that the government was “essentially denying justice to litigants” by delaying the decision. The order was passed by the division bench of Justices AS Oka and MS Sonak.

The bench had noted that the current building was meant to house just around six to seven courts when it became functional in 1878, though the High Court, an institution , was established in 1862. Now with the sanctioned strength of 94 judges and, around 35 judges serving in the 138-year-old building, the space has clearly been found to be insufficient.

It had noted that the building as it stands doesn’t have adequate space for court rooms, chambers for the judges and lawyers, as well as for thousands of litigants who come each day.

“Even the state is not disputing the fact that there is a need for more space. By continuing the functioning of the high court from the current building, the state government is effectively denying access to justice to litigants,” the bench said.

On March 30, the HC had disposed contempt petition filed by advocate Ahmed Abdi seeking implementation of the High Court's 2019 order in his PIL highlighting the need to shift the court premises to a more spacious building. While the court disposed of the contempt petition, the original PIL was listed today for compliance.