The UT administration is contemplating allocating land in Sarangpur to relocate judicial records from the Punjab and Haryana High Court premises. Senior Standing Counsel Anil Mehta informed the bench of Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta about this consideration, emphasizing the need for more space at the main complex.
This development surfaced during the hearing of a PIL filed by Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees Association Secretary Vinod Dhatterwal. The PIL seeks the implementation of a holistic development plan, envisioning multi-storey buildings to address the growing space requirements. The plea highlighted the lag in infrastructure development to accommodate increased footfall on the premises.
The UT administration also revealed plans to shift various sections, including the service book section, accounts branch, DDO section, and bill branch, to vacant space in the old District Court building in Sector 17. The vacated rooms will undergo upgrades and renovations.
In response to the proposal, senior advocate RS Khosla suggested allocating the vacated rooms in the basement of lawyers’ chambers, currently utilized by high court branches, back to the advocates. The bench acknowledged the proposal and indicated that the HC building committee would further examine this aspect.
Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain assured the court of obtaining a positive response regarding the proposal to conduct a heritage assessment from IIT Roorkee as part of the high court’s holistic development plan. The matter is scheduled for the next hearing on December 11.
