Process to construct verandah outside court No. 1 of HC starts

The UT Engineering Department has finally started the process for the construction of a verandah outside the courtroom of the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

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The department had floated a tender for the construction of the verandah outside courtroom No. 1 of the high court at a cost of nearly Rs 13.78 lakh. After allotment of the tender, the work has to be completed within two months.

The process was started after a recent order of the Supreme Court, which on May 28 had upheld the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order to the Chandigarh Administration to get a verandah constructed outside the courtroom of its Chief Justice.

The order came on the UT Administration’s petition challenging the high court’s orders on the ground that such construction would affect the UNESCO heritage status of the Chandigarh Capitol Complex, where the high court building is located.

However, a senior counsel representing the high court contended that the construction of the verandah in front of court room No. 1 in alignment with the existing verandahs in front of the courtroom Nos. 2 to 9, would not violate the operational guidelines of UNESCO because neither such verandah can be said to be a major restoration work, nor a new construction within the main structure of the high court building.

The counsel also pointed out that during heavy rainfall, rainwater seeps into courtroom No. 1 in the absence of some protective projection, making it difficult to prevent the inflow of water into the courtroom. The high court had on November 29, 2024, directed the UT Administration to construct a verandah in front of courtroom No.1, similar to the ones that already existed in front of courtrooms No. 2 to 9.