HC seeks legal status of Corbusier Foundation, heritage committee
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the UT Administration to provide detailed information on the Foundation Le Corbusier, Paris, and the Chandigarh Heritage Committee. It has been asked to specify the legal status of both.
The directive came during the hearing of a suo motu or court-on-its-own motion case on the High Court’s holistic development. One of the issues before the Bench was the construction of a verandah in front of the chief justice’s courtroom.
The Bench was informed during the course of hearing in November last that the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee, in its 24th meeting held on September 19, had granted in-principle approval to the verandah, subject to consulting the Foundation Le Corbusier, Paris, for requisite drawings and data. The proposed map had also been submitted to the Archaeological Survey of India for approval.
But the Supreme Court on January 10 had stayed the High Court’s directive issued on November 29, 2024, to the Chandigarh Administration to construct the verandah. The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta had also stayed contempt proceedings initiated by the High Court against the UT Chief Engineer for non-compliance.
The order came in response to a petition filed before the apex court by the UT Administration, which argued that the construction would jeopardise the UNESCO World Heritage status of the Capitol Complex. The Bench was assisted by senior advocate PS Patwalia as the amicus curiae.
As the matter came up for resumed hearing, the Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sudhir Singh asserted: “The counsel for the UT Administration is directed to bring on record the legal status of the Le Corbusier Foundation, Paris, the terms and conditions subject to which the High Court original building was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and also the legal status of the Chandigarh Heritage Committee”.
The Bench also suggested that the “kutcha” parking space adjoining the High Court could be used not only for parking but also for planting additional trees in a manner that would not hinder the movement of vehicles while facilitating green cover. “Let an affidavit be filed in that regard by the UT Administration before the next date of hearing,” the Bench added.
The direction came after the Bar Association’s counsel raised the issue of parking space scarcity behind the heritage building. The court was of the view that the “kutcha” parking space could be laid with “green pavers in the similar fashion as done by the UT Administration while creating additional parking space behind the Punjab MLA Hostel”.
The court was also informed that UT had deposited Rs 22, 54,689 as environmental compensation for 0.2159 hectares of forest land “situated within the jutting out portion of the Rock Garden”. The court had earlier expressed hope that the Union of India would take a swift action to address the diversion of forest land near the Rock Garden, which had been causing traffic congestion around the court complex.
Additional Solicitor General of India Satya Pal Jain assured the court that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change would issue the order to permit the Change of Land Use (CLU) from forest to non-forest land within a week.
