The Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) has announced its intention to organize a sit-in protest on Tuesday, June 27, in opposition to the Assam government’s plan to relocate the High Court and other courts in and around Guwahati to a centralized location on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River.
Mrinal Kumar Choudhury, the president of GHCBA and a Senior Advocate, verified this information.
“On Tuesday, we will hold a sit-in-demonstration from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm to protest against proposed shifting as well as against the constitution of a high level committee for the purpose of shifting the High Court,” he said.
The association has submitted a memorandum to the President of India, the Chief Justice of India, the Union Law Minister, and the Chief Minister of Assam expressing their opposition to the proposed relocation of the High Court and sessions court in Guwahati to a “judicial city” situated in the Rangmahal area of North Guwahati.
Currently, the distance between the two locations is approximately 25 km, which takes more than an hour to commute due to traffic conditions. However, there are plans to construct a new bridge that is expected to cut the travel time in half.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma initially announced the draft plan for this relocation on April 14 of this year. A high-level committee was subsequently formed on May 23 to finalize the details and evaluate a suitable site to accommodate the Gauhati High Court, other judicial courts in the Kamrup area, as well as residential facilities for judges and staff members.
The current High Court building has been operational since 1951 and a new annex was added in 2013. The magisterial courts are located within a 500-meter radius of the building.
The GHCBA has expressed concerns about the potential impact on lady lawyers, increased traffic on the bridge, and loss of time resulting from the proposed relocation.
The GHCBA has expressed strong concerns about the proposed relocation, highlighting that it remains unclear whether all the lower courts in the Kamrup rural and metropolitan districts will be moved to the new site. Previously, these two districts were merged, with Guwahati serving as the headquarters.
The association has raised apprehensions saying, “The place where the proposed judicial city is to come up is yet to have any kind of infrastructure and at present it can be reached from Guwahati by travelling over the Saraighat Bridge, which takes about 30 kms of travel or by Ferry Service. However, a new bridge is being constructed over the river Brahmaputra, by a Company which has the dubious distinction of its under-construction bridge over river Ganga collapsing like a pack of cards”
The GHCBA also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the High Court registry appeared to have been aware of the proposed relocation but did not engage in discussions with the bar association.
The memorandum emphasized, “The haste in the decision-making process and the manner, in which it was taken in a way, raises serious question mark on the independence and autonomy of the Judiciary. The Gauhati High Court Bar Association is categorical in its opposition to the move to shift the Gauhati High Court and other Courts to Rangmahal.”
The potential impact on young and female lawyers was highlighted, as they would face significant challenges in traveling to the new site.
It was also emphasized that the shift would be time-consuming for litigants. “Lawyers and litigants will have to converge at one or two points and finally cross the bridge from a particular point over the river or in its bank and take a single route which would create severe traffic congestion over the bridge and as a result of which valuable time, fuel and energy would be wasted, in the process adversely impacting the system and even the environment. It can be reasonably expected that during the peak hours, the rush of vehicles trying to cross the bridge at a time, would lead to utter chaos.”
Additionally, the association pointed out that the decision could negatively affect the delivery of justice in the lower courts, as individuals would be hesitant to spend their entire day traveling to and from the courts on behalf of others.
Furthermore, the association emphasized that none of the bar associations had made any demands for such a relocation.
