SAROOR
JAMMU: Despite resentment by the members of the civil society, lawyers and the NGO ‘Jammu Front Change’ opposing cutting of thousands of trees to construct new high court complex, the foundation of the building coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 938 crores, will be laid on June 28 by the Chief Justice of India Justice DY Chandrachud.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has decided to shift the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court building from Janipur area of Jammu to Raika forest on the city outskirts
“The Chief Justice of India Justice DY Chandrachud will lay its foundation stone on June 28. The cost of the new High Court complex equipped with modern facilities has been estimated at Rs 938 crore,” sources said.
They added that to make the visit of the Chief Justice of India to Jammu and Kashmir successful, the Registrar General High Court and the Principal Secretary Chief Justice have formed several committees for smooth sailing, adding, “it is being considered as an important step and a milestone towards reforming the judicial structure in Jammu and Kashmir.”
According to sources, the new court complex will be one of the best High Courts in the country and will have 35 court rooms, which can later be increased to 70.
“The campus will be environment friendly and is to be designed by renowned architect Guneet Singh Chauhan, who has designed several high courts including the Delhi High Court, metro stations and malls,” sources added and said that the construction will be supervised by the judges of the High Court through the J&K Project Construction Corporation and the Public Works Department.
“The new court complex has three auditoriums, an administrative block, an arbitration centre, a medical centre, a computer centre, a judges’ library, chambers for a thousand lawyers, facilities for litigants, food courts, a collection section including a total of 35 judges. And space will be available for the staff,” they revealed as per the proposed designs of the complex.
They said that the complex will also be equipped with housing, judicial academy, conference facilities, a helipad, a fire station, a transport facilitation center etc and apart from this, there will also be facilities for sports, gym and yoga center for judges and lawyers.
“The target is to complete the project in 18 months. All the NOCs (No Objection Certificate) have already been received from the Wildlife and Forest Department,” they added.
“As the complex is to be built in the Raika forest area, the matter went to the National Green Tribunal, where the High Court filed a reasonable reply, after which the decision was in favor of the High Court, they added.
Contrary to that, the lawyers in Jammu are not in favor of shifting the High Court complex from Janipur stating that it will greatly affect their work and cause inconvenience to people commuting to the court.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association Jammu has also constituted a 34-member advisory committee of lawyers to chalk out a permanent strategy against the decision.
Notably, environmental activists and many political and social personalities have also objected to the construction of the High Court in Raika forest.
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have a joint High Court and two benches, one at Srinagar and the other at Jammu.
The Jammu Court was located in the Mubarak Mandi complex in Jammu till the 1990s and in the year 1994 the High Court complex was shifted to Janipur area of Jammu in the area of several thousand kanals of land apart from the High Court, District Complex, Advocate General’s Office. The Judicial Academy and the Registrar’s Office are also located in the complex.
