Chandigarh to allot 14 acres for Punjab and Haryana High Court block

Dushyant Singh Pundir

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Chandigarh, January 24

On the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the UT Administration has decided to allocate 14.86 acres of land at Sarangpur village for the construction of an additional administrative block of the high court.

During a meeting, UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit approved the proposal, which has now been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for final approval.

During a hearing on January 22, the high court directed the UT to allot three plots (two plots of 6-acre each and one of 2.86 acres) for an administrative block at Sarangpur village.

It was observed that the court was constructed in 1954 with a sanctioned strength of nine judges. There were around 200-250 registered advocates then.

As of today, the sanctioned strength of HC judges is 85 and there are about 10,000-12,000 registered advocates. There are 69 courtrooms in the HC building in which permanent Lok Adalats as well as mediation centres also work.

Besides, the court is in the process of appointing 10 counsellors and extra staff will be required to give them back-up. In the next 50 years, there can be further increase in the sanctioned strength of the judges to the extent of 140/150, observed the HC, while elaborating on the need for more land.

A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta passed these orders while hearing a PIL filed by Vinod Dhatterwal, secretary, Punjab and Haryana HC Employees Association and others.