Chandigarh gives 14.8 acres in Sarangpur for HC’s addl administrative block

Following directions from the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC), UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit has allocated 14.86 acres in Sarangpur village for the construction of an additional administrative block of the court. This has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs for final approval.
The land, which has been allocated, was earlier proposed to be used for the construction of a 500-bed mother-and-child-care centre but the plan had been junked after the architecture wing opined that the centre should be located on the premises of Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16.
UT adviser Nitin Yadav said, “The UT administrator has approved the land for construction of the high court administrative block. Now, the final approval for the same has to come from the MHA as the cost of the project is more than ₹100 crore.”
A plea demanding additional space for the offices of the high court had been moved by Vinod Dhatterwal, secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees Association. The association, in its plea, had stated that the high court was constructed in 1954 in Sector 1, which is part of the Capitol Complex, with a sanctioned strength of nine judges and around 200 registered advocates at the time. At present, the sanctioned strength of judges is 85, and there are 10,000 registered advocates. The additional administrative complex is also required for keeping the judicial records of the high court.
During the hearing on January 22, the division bench of acting chief justice Ritu Bahri and justice Nidhi Gupta had said that to accommodate so many judges as well as administrative staff, the land in Sarangpur, which consists of two plots of six acres each and one plot of 2.86 acres, should be allotted by the Chandigarh administration in favour of the high court.
As per sources, the new building will have rooms for permanent Lok Adalats. Presently, there are five Lok Adalats, which are conducted at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Also, the mediation centre will be shifted to the new building.
The bench had further observed, “In the gap of almost 70 years, the sanctioned strength of the HC Judges has gone from 9 to 85, and at present, there are 69 court rooms in the building. The court is also in the process of appointing 10 counsellors, and extra staff will be required for their backup. In the next 50 years, there can be further increase in the sanctioned strength of the HC judges to the extent of nearly 150.”
The Punjab and Haryana HC also has space in the buildings in Sector 17 and Industrial Area, Phase-1, which are being used as record rooms.