New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra chief secretary to hold a meeting with the chief justice of the Bombay High Court and other judges for taking a decision on re-development of a PWD and annexe buildings adjacent to the present iconic high court building in Mumbai for shifting some courtrooms and other facilities there.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on September 23 laid the foundation stone of the Bombay High Court’s new complex in Mumbai’s Bandra region.
The apex court, which is hearing a suo motu case titled as 'Heritage Building of the Bombay High Court and allotment of additional lands for the High Court', was of the view that till the time, the new high court building comes up at Bandra, some of the facilities needed to be shifted to a PWD building adjacent to the present high court premises.
A special bench comprising the CJI and Justices B R Gavai and JB Pardiwala was also of the view that the annexe building of the high court, where some of the courts and other facilities are still there, needed urgent repairs as well.
"A meeting will be called by the chief justice of the Bombay High Court (Justice D K Upadhyaya) and other judges with the chief secretary to discuss the redevelopment of a certain portion of the PWD building and the repairs of the annexe building," the bench said.
The top court also asked the state government to explore providing some space to the high court to set up its arbitration and mediation centre in the Air India building in south Mumbai and discuss this aspect as well in the meeting between the chief secretary and the HC chief justice and other judges.
"I sat in the annexe building for a long since we were the first batch of junior judges who got air-conditioned courtrooms," the CJI said, adding that some of the judges' chambers in the annexe building used to leak during monsoon then.
The offices of the advocate general and government pleaders are also there in the annexe building, the CJI said, adding now it has emerged that the building needed urgent repairs.
"Let the meeting as suggested be held to see what developments can be made in this regard," the bench said.
The bench also asked the state government to adhere to the timeline provided by it for handing over the possession of remaining part of land at Bandra for construction of new high court building.
"Lets us hope that a certain momentum is maintained," the CJI said.
The groundbreaking ceremony of the new high court building was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, senior Supreme Court judges and the HC Chief Justice.
The new HC complex will have well-designed and spacious court rooms, chambers for judges and registry personnel, an arbitration and mediation centre, an auditorium, library, and a host of features and amenities for staff, lawyers and litigants.
The Maharashtra government has said possession of 30.16 acre of land will be handed over to the High Court in a phased manner, adding the first tranche measuring 4.39 acres has already been given.
The Bombay High Court, founded on August 16, 1862, is currently located in a majestic building near Flora Fountain (Hutatma Chowk) that the court has occupied since November 1878, an official said.
The Bombay High Court exercises jurisdiction over Maharashtra through the principal seat in Mumbai and benches at Nagpur and Aurangabad as well as Goa. It also exercises jurisdiction over the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
The high court has a sanctioned strength of 94 judges, with the current strength being 66 sitting judges.
The top court had earlier asked the state government to issue an order by September 7 for handing over the land at Bandra-Kurla complex to the Bombay High Court for construction of its new building.
The top court, under its suo motu (on its own) jurisdiction, had taken note of an April 29 letter petition of Bombay Bar Association president Nitin Thakker and other bar leaders with respect to the urgent need of accommodation for the high court of judicature at Bombay whose existing building is 150 years old.