The bhoomi pujan of the new court building in Pimpri-Chinchwad's Moshi was conducted on Sunday by Supreme Court Justice Bhushan R Gavai. Justices Abhay Oka and Prasanna B Varale of the SC, along with Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and Guardian Justice of Pune, and High Court Judge Justice Revati Mohite Dere, were present at the event.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Bhosari MLA Mahesh Landge shared pictures of the ceremony and said, "This is a dream come true for the common citizen and the city's legal fraternity." He thanked Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and added that the court building will be completed in two years, with hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it.
As per Landge, the new court building will have a total of nine floors and an additional sessions court. In the first phase, a fully equipped building with four floors and 26 court halls will be built.
Speaking on the occasion, Justice Gavai noted that the number of bail pleas in the SC was steadily rising since it was not being granted in the district courts or even the high courts.
"These days the situation is such that bail is not granted in the district court. It has become a challenge to get bail even in the high courts. Therefore, the pendency of bail matters in the SC is going up," he said.
Asserting that judges have the courageous and unbiased nature of Ramshastri Prabhune, the revered chief justice of the Maratha Empire in the latter half of the 18th century, Justice Gavai asked, "Why should we fear to grant bail?" "Even after spending 9-10 years in jail before the trial is over, if judges don't consider the bail plea (of an accused), (then) we should think about the current system," he asserted.
Justice Oka said disputes related to marriages were on the rise and there was a need to increase the number of family courts nationwide.
"This has become a serious issue, particularly in cities. There are 10-15 cases filed for one marriage dispute. There is need to increase the number of district, sessions and family courts," he said.
He also advised the legal fraternity to avoid performing puja in the court premises while asking to inaugurate any event by bowing down before the copy of the Preamble to the Constitution.
Justice Oka said, "This year on November 26, we will complete 75 years of adopting the Constitution given by Babasaheb Ambedkar. I always feel that our Constitution has two important words in the Preamble, one is secular and second is democracy."
"Sometime judges have to say some unpleasant things, I want to say that now we have to stop doing puja-archana or lighting lamp kind of rituals during any events related to the judiciary. Instead, we should keep the Preamble of the Constitution and bow down to it to start any event. We need to start this new thing to respect our Constitution and it's values," he added.
