The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Centre regarding a plea seeking the expansion of the court, courtrooms, lawyers’ chambers, parking space, and infrastructural requirements.
A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora issued notice to the Union ministries of Housing and Urban Affairs, Law and Justice, and the administrative side of the high court on the petition.
DHCBA
The petition, filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA), urged the Centre to hand over possession of the entire land of Bapa Nagar for infrastructural needs to expand the high court, including the DHCBA, by relocating the current occupants of the residential quarters in Bapa Nagar to newly constructed or under-constructed flats under the General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) scheme.
What the Court Stated?
During the hearing, the bench remarked, “The problem is that the high court is confined to this space only. We will require adjacent land. We will examine this and explore available options. Currently, we have virtually no land at our disposal.” The court scheduled further proceedings for July 31.
Representing the Centre was standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, while advocate Raavi Birbal represented the administrative side of the Delhi High Court.
Senior advocate Rakesh Tiku, on behalf of DHCBA, urged the court to instruct authorities to promptly take steps, within a defined timeline, to provide additional space for infrastructural expansion of the high court, DHCBA, courtrooms, lawyers’ chambers, parking facilities, record rooms, and related activities by redeveloping adjacent land at Bapa Nagar on Zakir Hussain Road.
The area currently houses old residential quarters for government employees.
The plea emphasized that due to the escalation in litigation, the sanctioned strength of high court judges has risen to 60, while the number of registered lawyers, currently around 35,000 DHCBA members, has also significantly increased.
On any given working day, the high court deals with over 4500 matters, apart from the regular list, involving numerous lawyers and litigants from both sides and other stakeholders.
“This substantial volume of matters entails the movement of lawyers and litigants. Approximately 10,000 lawyers and an equal number of litigants visit the high court daily, along with around 6,000 court staff and security personnel present inside the premises,” the plea elaborated.
It further highlighted the high court’s space shortage, necessitating the need for additional courtrooms, lawyers’ chambers, modern libraries, canteens, parking, bar rooms, and facilities for litigants.
