Chandigarh: A 15-acre horizontal extension is granted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court

Approximately two weeks after a Division Bench ruled that 15 acres of land in Sarangpur village needed to be taken into consideration for the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s horizontal expansion, the UT “competent authority” approved it.

More parking spaces close to the current HC complex are on the way, according to a status report Advisor to the UT Administrator Rajeev Verma presented to the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji.

Among other things, the status report included this: “Everything about the designation of 15 acres at Sarangpur has been scrutinized. As a result, the relevant body has approved the designation of 15 acres of land in Sarangpur as an extra land need for the purpose of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

According to the status report, the problem of space behind the MLA hostel in Sector 4 was brought before the “sub-group” of the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee, in reference to the directives given on the previous day of the hearing on the provision of a parking spot in Chandigarh’s Sector 6. The status report said, “It has approved the creation of parking space behind the MLA hostel in Sector 4.”

The Bench had noted previously that the Administration wanted to provide a parcel of land that would be around 8.5 acres in size. However, the previous assessment—”preferably of 14.86 acres”—was accurate.

Explaning further, the Bench had noted that more space would be needed for the offices of the Advocates General of Punjab and Haryana, who were also experiencing a severe space shortage as a result of the need to preserve judicial record storage. By providing them with some space away from the area that may be recognized or assigned, the problem might be resolved.

Given that the area at Sarangpur is still in the early stages of development, the Bench had noted, “Therefore, in the considered opinion of this court, the Administration should consider giving a chunk of 15 acres at Sarangpur village, from the reserved area of 15.36, which is contiguous to the plot of 8.5 acres at the site identified as per the layout plan appended, as the same is lying vacant.”

The request for orders to hasten the High Court’s “holistic development plan” for lowering the burden on the existing building was made in response to a petition to the Union of India, the Union Territory of Chandigarh, and other respondents.

In the interest of the public, Vinod Dhatterwal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees Association and other petitioners filed one of the cases in this case. The Bench was informed that on a daily basis, the court was visited by over 10,000 attorneys, 3,300 court workers, almost 3,000 advocates’ clerks, employees of the advocate-general offices of the two states, security guards, an indeterminable number of litigants, and other department employees.

Claim made by petitioners

In the interest of the public, Vinod Dhatterwal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees Association and other petitioners filed one of the cases in this case. The Bench was informed that on a daily basis, the HC was visited by an unknown number of litigants, around 10,000 attorneys, about 3,300 court staff, about 3,000 advocates’ clerks, employees of the advocate-general offices of the two states, and security people.