SRINAGAR: Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud is all set to visit Jammu on June 28 where he will lay the foundation stone of the new complex of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in Raika forest area of Jammu. The complex is coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 938 crore.
The new building equipped with modern facilities is being considered an important step towards reforming the judicial structure in Jammu and Kashmir.
To make the visit of the Chief Justice of India to Jammu and Kashmir a success, the Registrar General High Court and the Principal Secretary Chief Justice have formed several committees.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh had a joint High Court and two benches. One is in Srinagar and the other is in Jammu. The Jammu bench was located at Mubarak Mandi complex in Jammu till the 1990s. In the year 1994, the High Court Complex was shifted from here to Janipur Jammu, the Janipur Court Complex premises, which is an area of several thousand kanals of land, apart from the High Court, the District Complex, the Advocate General’s office; the Judicial Academy and the Registrar’s Office are also located there.
Now, the administration has decided to shift the High Court building from Janipur and construct a new building at Raika Forest area in the outskirts of Jammu.
The project was approved by the then State Administrative Council (SAC) vide its Decision No.259/22/2019 dated October 22, 2019. The Administrative Council had accorded sanction for use of 40.6565 hectares of forest land for development of infrastructure for the High Court in Raika area in the outskirt of Jammu city with the condition that the user agency shall restrict the number of trees to be felled to 3000 only.
Sources said that a new court complex will be one of the best High Courts in the country. There will be 35 courtrooms, which can be later extended to 70 courtrooms. This complex will be made environment-friendly.
It has been designed by famous architect Guneet Singh Chauhan, who has designed many High Courts including Delhi High Court, metro stations and malls.
Its construction will be supervised by the High Court judges through the Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC) and the Public Works Department (PWD).
The new court complex has three auditoriums, an administrative block, a mediation centre, a medi cal centre, a computer centre, a judges’ library, chambers for 1,000 lawyers, facilities for litigants, food courts, an archive section, and a total of 35 judges and staff.
It will also be equipped with accommodation, a Judicial Academy, convention facilities, a helipad, a fire station, a transport facility centre and other related things.
Apart from this, there will be sports, gym and yoga centre facilities for judges and lawyers. The project is targeted to be completed in one and a half years.
Sources said that all No Objection Certificates (NOCs) have already been obtained from the Department of Wildlife and Forests.
Notably, the court complex is being built in the forest area, thus simultaneously the matter went to the National Green Tribunal where the High Court filed a reasonable reply, after which the decision came in favour of the High Court.
On the other hand, the lawyers of Jammu are not in favour of shifting the High Court complex from Janipur, most of the lawyers say that it will greatly affect their work.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association Jammu has also constituted a 34-member advisory committee of lawyers, which will decide on a permanent strategy against this decision while the meeting of the committee will be held on Sunday at the High Court Janipur.
Meanwhile, environmental activists and political and social figures have also expressed their objection to the construction of the High Court in Raika forest—(KNO)
