CJI lays foundation stone for new HC complex in Bandra

MUMBAI: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday laid the foundation stone of the Bombay high court’s new complex in Bandra East. The complex, slated to come up over nearly 30 acres in the government colony in Kherwadi, will include stones from the existing high court complex in south Mumbai as part of its foundation.
The foundation stone laying ceremony, held on Monday evening, was attended by a host of dignitaries, including supreme court judges Bhushan Gavai, Abhay Oka, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. Chief justice of the Bombay high court Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya presided over the ceremony.
The public works department has floated a global tender for drawing up a concept plan for the new court complex, which will include court rooms, chambers for judges and registry personnel, an arbitration and mediation centre, an auditorium, library, and amenities for staff, lawyers and litigants.
PWD officials said that they are planning for 75 court rooms in the new complex, in addition to residences for junior high court judges, staff quarters, bar rooms, canteens and parking space. The complex will also have stationery shops and computer centres, the officials added.
“Since the plot is close to the airport, height restrictions are applicable and buildings cannot be taller than 16 storeys or 70 metres,” said a PWD officer. Since senior high court judges will be allotted residences in Malabar Hill, the new complex in Bandra will not have any provisions for their accommodation, the officer noted.
The new high court complex is part of a comprehensive redevelopment scheme for the 89.75-acre government colony in Bandra. The scheme has been prepared by the state government in collaboration with the Economic Development Co-operation Fund (EDCH) from South Korea. The court complex will be spread over 30.16 acres, of which 13.73 acres are likely to be handed over by March 2025 and the remaining by March 2026.
A new complex for the principal seat of the Bombay high court was necessitated due to severe space crunch at the existing premises. While the three-storey Gothic building at Flora Fountain, constructed in 1878, was meant to house 15 judges and 6-7 courts, it currently houses 29 courts manned by 35 judges. The overall sanctioned strength of judges, meanwhile, has climbed to 94 and many courts are housed in rooms that were earlier used as offices. The size of most of the makeshift court rooms is insufficient to accommodate members of the bar and litigants.
The high court complex in Fort is spread over approximately 550,000 square feet including the main building, the annex building, public works department’s main and extension buildings and part of a building in Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital, which is used to store old court files and records.
Additionally, in recent years, doubts have been raised about the structural stability of the main British-era building of the high court, and bar associations have urged the supreme court to speed up allotment of land for the new high court complex.