HC seeks IIT Roorkee timeline on Capitol Complex plan, warns delay could push court project back by 2 years

Expressing concern that further delay could jeopardise the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s holistic development project, a division bench on Tuesday asked the Chandigarh Administration to obtain instructions from IIT Roorkee on how soon it could submit the crucial “site management and buffer zone management plan” required for consideration of the project.

The bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor noted that the requirement for the management plan had been conveyed to the Union Territory Administration in November 2024. But nearly one-and-a half years had passed without the report being made available.

During the hearing, the UT Administration produced before the court a communication showing that IIT Roorkee had been requested to prepare the plan and had been sanctioned consultancy charges of Rs 4 crore.

Recording the development, the bench observed: “Pursuant to the previous orders passed, a letter has been produced by the Senior Standing Counsel for the Union Territory, Chandigarh, addressed to the Associate Professor, Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, calling upon them to prepare a Site Management and Buffer Zone Management Plan for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Capitol Complex, Sector 1, Chandigarh, and also sanctioning a sum of Rs 4 crore as consultancy charges to IIT Roorkee.”

The bench asserted that the document was indispensable for the high court’s proposal concerning Court Complex.

“The Site Management and Buffer Zone Management Plan for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Capitol Complex, Sector 1, Chandigarh, is eminently required for consideration of the holistic plan for the Court Complex forwarded to the Le Corbusier Foundation for its onward recommendation to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

Referring to the urgency, the bench said adherence to the prescribed schedule was imperative. “The strict timelines are required to be followed, failing which the court’s project itself would not be taken up for consideration for a period of next two years,” the judges observed.

The court warned that such a delay would have far-reaching consequences. It noted that this “is likely to create serious complications for the court, which is already facing difficulties on account of space constraints for both the court and the lawyers”.

Stressing that the ultimate burden would fall on litigants, the bench observed: “Ultimately, it is the litigants, who are the end consumers of justice, who have to bear the loss.” The judges also pointed out that the need for the management plan had long been communicated to the administration. “The necessity of obtaining the Site Management and Buffer Zone Management Plan had already been intimated to the Union Territory Administration, Chandigarh in November 2024. Almost a year and a half has gone by since then,” the bench asserted.

Emphasising the need for immediate action, the bench cautioned: “Unless the report itself is made available forthwith, it may cause irreparable crisis for the project itself.”

In view of the circumstances, the court requested the UT Administration to ascertain the timeline from IIT Roorkee. “In such circumstances, we request the learned Senior Standing Counsel for the Union Territory, Chandigarh, to obtain appropriate instructions and inform the court as to how quickly such report can be submitted by IIT Roorkee,” the bench directed. The matter has been adjourned to July 29.