Will hand over 4.39 acres of land for Bombay High Court building by Sept 10: Maharashtra govt tells SC

Bombay High Court. File Pic

The Maharashtra government told the Supreme Court on Monday that it would hand over 4.39 acres of land to the Bombay High Court for construction of a new Bombay High Court building by September 10, reported news agency PTI.

The top court, under its suo motu (on its own) jurisdiction, was hearing a case initiated after taking note of an April 29 letter petition of Bombay Bar Association president Nitin Thakker and other bar leaders with respect to the urgent need for accommodation for the High Court of judicature at Bombay whose existing Bombay High Court building is 150 years old.

It titled the case 'Heritage Building of the Bombay High Court and allotment of additional lands for the High Court'.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices B R Gavai and J B Pardiwala was also told that the remaining 30.46 acres would also be handed over to the high court within a prescribed time, reported PTI.

"On July 8, 2024, an internal meeting was convened by the Chief Justice of High Court with the Judges Committee monitoring the construction of the new premises. On July 9, 2024, another meeting was held in which all stakeholders including government officials participated. We have been informed that by September 10, 2024, a contiguous area of 4.39 acres in the Bandra-Kurla complex will be handed over to the high court by the state government. The state has indicated a timeline to handover the balance area in phases which measures 30.16 acres to the high court as well," the bench said, reported PTI.

The top court noted that the Maharashtra government has short-listed eight architects for finalising the design planning and directed that a meeting be convened with the eight architects to apprise them of the requirements of the high court after which they will make a presentation to the state government, reported PTI.

As the hearing started, Maharashtra Advocate General Dr Birendra Saraf informed the apex court that the state government will hand over the vacant possession of 4.39 acres of area at Bandra Kurla to the high court by September 10, reported PTI.

The top court has now posted the matter for August 22, 2024.

The top court was earlier informed that the high court had approved the proposal of the Maharashtra government for land at Bandra East in Mumbai but some portion of the land was being occupied by government housing colonies.

(With inputs from PTI)