Land allotment for HC in Sarangpur: 8.5-acre land inadequate, revise proposal, HC tells UT
The development comes days after the administration in its letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) suggested that for the expansion plans given by the high court, 8.5 acres of land would be “justified”. These comments were part of the administration’s letter in which it had apprised the MHA of the high court order and sought approval for the allotment, as ordered on January 19. .
The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the Chandigarh administration to revise its proposal regarding the allotment of land to the high court in Sarangpur keeping in view the future requirement for growth and expansion in the next 50 years.
The development comes days after the administration in its letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) suggested that for the expansion plans given by the high court, 8.5 acres of land would be “justified”. These comments were part of the administration’s letter in which it had apprised the MHA of the high court order and sought approval for the allotment, as ordered on January 19. .
When the content of the letter came to light during a hearing on February 2, the high court bench of acting chief justice Ritu Bahri and justice Nidhi Gupta observed that the recommendation of giving 8.5 acres of land has not been made on the basis of any project or any data.
It has already been observed in the earlier order that the strength of the high court judges has been increased from nine (in the year 1954) to 85 in 2024. No facts have been examined by the administration to give this opinion, the court observed, adding that this justification is not based on the facts of the high court administration.
“There is no data examined by the administration to give justification for giving only 8.5 acres of land, especially keeping in view that even the holistic plan has not been approved/finalised till date and it may require modification. So, the letter of the administration should not be made basis to give a response to the home ministry that only 8.5 acres of land is required because they have not examined this issue from 1954 till date and for the next upcoming 50 years,” the bench observed.
Earlier, additional solicitor general of India Satya Pal Jain had told the court that the letter has been received from the Chandigarh administration and it has been asked to give further clarification about the requirement of land for the future growth/expansion of the high court.
The issue has come before the court about infrastructural deficiencies in a plea by Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees Association secretary Vinod Dhatterwal seeking implementation of the holistic development plan, which envisages setting up of multi-storey buildings to cater to the requirement of additional space.
The infrastructure to cater to the high footfall on the court premises has not kept its pace, the plea has said, demanding intervention from the HC on judicial side.
The HC caters to cases arising out of two states and Chandigarh, and handles footfall of around 30,000 people per day, many coming through cars. It has two buildings — heritage and a new block — accommodating most of the current day needs. But expansion plans are stalled, as the complex comes under the UNESCO heritage project.
The court observed that as per the record in the year 2014, the space requirement of the high court was 2,90,000 sq ft and in the year 2018, the revised space requirement increased to 3,21,000 sq ft. Apart from this, extra land for parking area was also required. After 2018, six years have gone by and the demand has been increased much more, the court said, adding that the UT in its letter of January 23 has not considered future requirement for the next 50 years, it recorded.
Only 8.5 acres required: UT letter to MHA
In its communication to the MHA on January 23, the UT had apprised the MHA of the high court direction to allot 15 acres of land in Sarangpur. The letter mentioned that the registrar general of the high court on January 12 through a communique, though requirement was not filled properly as per required proforma, stated to allot a total area of 19.22 acres.
The letter also mentioned that these facts were brought to the knowledge of the high court in the hearing on January 19 with an assessment with stakeholders that put the requirement at 8.5 acres. However, the high court bench felt that this would not be sufficient for future needs and directed that three plots of 15 acres be allotted to the high court in Sarangpur.
The letter also mentioned that in December, the high court had said that Sector 17 and Industrial Area properties being used for keeping high court record would be given back to the administration, if three plots are given, but the high court has now ordered that these buildings will not be given up.
The letter also said during these proceedings only the high court had directed for heritage impact assessment through IIT Roorkee of the present complex, which was being executed.
Though detailed scope of work has not been submitted, the construction on the 15 acres of land may entail expenditure of more than ₹100 crore, the letter to the MHA mentioned asking it to take a final decision taking in account “optimum utilisation of scarce land in Chandigarh” and the fact that only 8.5 acres of land is “justified”.