K’taka Govt Proposes Ten-Storied Building for HC Expansion

The Karnataka government has put forth a proposal for the construction of a ten-storied building to expand the High Court.

On August 14, 2023, the Court had passed a directive, stating that three proposals must be submitted to the Chief Minister for review and a final decision on which proposal to implement.

Two separate public interest litigations (PILs) had advocated for the relocation of offices currently situated in the basement of the existing High Court building to a new location. Among the proposals presented, one involves the construction of a ten-storied building for the expansion of the High Court. This submission was made before the High Court on Thursday.

Acknowledging this statement as a commitment, a division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit adjourned the hearing of the PILs for four weeks.

“The learned additional advocate general, based on instructions and perusal of the orders of this court dated 14.8.23, states that the State Government has initiated three proposals. Subsequently, an additional proposal also came up for consideration, and that proposal is for upward growth, i.e., a high-rise building of ten floors; a 10-storied building,” stated the bench.

Issuing further instructions, the bench stated, “The learned AAG submits that all these proposals will be handed over to the Registry of this Court within a week of today. Accepting this statement as an undertaking to this court, we direct that after receipt of these proposals, the Register General to place these proposals before the Building Committee of this court.”