The local administration in South Carolina claims plans for court facilities are “lavish,” days after offering funding

NEW DELHI: Days after promising the Supreme Court to provide funding and upgrade/enlarge the city’s judicial system, the Delhi government referred to the approved plans as “lavish” and “liberal.”

The law minister of Delhi, Atishi, said last month that the plans for bigger courtrooms, escalators, and auditoriums were “lavish/more liberal” than the standards set by the Center in a letter to the committee the SC had established to oversee the development of the city’s judicial infrastructure.

In response, the panel called the note’s “choice of words viz lavish/more liberal” “inappropriate” and urged the Delhi government to follow authorized plans in order to proceed with the construction of court buildings.
The chief secretary notified the panel led by the chief justice of the HC about Atishi’s message, according to meeting minutes that the TOI was able to see.
“Saket court standard for all upcoming capital courtroom construction”
In addition to the chief judge of the HC, other attendees of the meeting last month included high-ranking officials from PWD, the finance department, the legal department, L&DO, and the HC, including the registrar general.

The law minister’s note reaffirmed the Delhi government’s position that the initial plans for the court buildings in Karkardooma, Shastri Park, Rohini, and Rouse Avenue, which were developed by the district courts’ building committees and PWD, did not align with the Center’s 2021 guidelines for the development of the nation’s judicial infrastructure.
According to Atishi’s remark, the cost per courtroom based on the authorized designs now in place is more than the cost that would be spent if the Center’s standards were followed. She also suggested making adjustments to the blueprints.
The chief secretary had previously provided an assurance to the Supreme Court in December of last year, the committee noted in its “surprise at the stand of Delhi govt” answer.

The panel stated that the approved plans for all four proposed district court complexes “have already undergone meticulous discussions, scrutiny as well as various consultative processes involving inputs from PWD, architects, district courts, and court BMCCs (building and construction committees)”. “The Delhi govt by virtue of this note is now seeking to’re-invent the wheel’ by modifying approved designs for construction of courtrooms,” the panel said.

It made clear that the Center’s 2021 guidelines should be read in light of the particular requirements of each district and state, and that its only purpose was to “establish cost standards” for courtrooms under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme. “Considering the pendency of cases and huge footfall in any district court complex of Delhi, it cannot be equated or compared with court building of any other state/district/taluka,” it said.

Regarding the need for escalators it said “on account of huge footfall in district courts in Delhi as well as looking at the high-rise nature of proposed building, use/installation of escalators is a necessity rather than a luxury.”

The minutes also state that the committee emphasized Saket district court as the model for any future building of courts and other facilities in Delhi.
“In alignment with the Saket court complex model, it is imperative that Delhi govt upholds existing standards in construction of the four new projects, instead of terming the approved plans as ‘more liberal/lavish’,” the panel replied, stating that “by no stretch of imagination can the existing courts in Saket, which are clean and functional, can be called lavish/more liberal.”

The law minister Atishi, acting Chief Justice Manmohan, and other senior judges met on January 4 of this year, and the committee documented that during that meeting, “it was clearly conveyed that original plans which have already been approved” by the High Court and the Supreme Court “needs to be adhered to without any change/alteration.”

The Delhi government was chastised by the Supreme Court in a prior hearing for its lack of interest in allocating cash for the district judiciary’s facilities in Delhi. By March 2021, three of the four projects had received permission, according to the Chief Justice of India at the time. But at that point, money wasn’t yet available for these initiatives.