Mumbai: High Court Warns State Govt For Slow Progress In New HC Building In BKC

Exasperated with the snail’s pace with which the Maharashtra government is working on allotment of new high court building at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the Bombay High Court on Thursday warned the state not to compel it to pass drastic orders.

“We are requesting and requesting! Don't compel us to pass drastic orders. You are in contempt,” a bench of Chief justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor said.

HC Hears Petition Filed By Adv. Ahmad Abdi

The HC was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Ahmad Abdi seeking to initiate contempt of court action against the government for non-compliance with a 2019 High Court order on land allotment.

“Is this a matter that is to be taken so lightly? Why cannot the government understand the constraints the high court is facing on a daily basis? Why can’t you understand such simple things? Even for a simple oath-taking ceremony, there are so many issues because of space constraints,” the court remarked.

HC Express Displeasure Over Delay

During the previous hearing, the HC expressed its displeasure over the delay in allotting the land for the new building, emphasising that the lives of the officers in the high court were at peril. The bench had asked the state to file an affidavit giving details for the steps taken for allotment of the land.

Government pleader Abhay Patki sought four more weeks to file an affidavit. He said that the officers from the Urban Development Department (UDD) are gathering necessary info.

HC Criticises State Government Officers Over Delay In Providing Information

This irked the bench which asked from where were the officers digging out the information from.  The court also rapped the officer from the UDD, who was present in the court.

“From where do you have to dig out this information? Some archives? Is it such information that will take four weeks? You are required to file a simple affidavit to state what has been done,” the bench said.

Patki then assured the court that they would file the affidavit in 15 days.