State Denying Litigants Justice by Delaying New Court Building Plot: Bombay HC
By : Legal Era
Update: 2019-01-22 05:40 GMT
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The state government was “essentially denying justice to litigants” by delaying a decision on allocation of a new building for the High Court, the Bombay High Court said. Litigants and judicial staff were being forced to continue work from the current 138-year-old building which had inadequate space, the court said. The Maharashtra government was directed to decide within the next six...
The state government was “essentially denying justice to litigants” by delaying a decision on allocation of a new building for the High Court, the Bombay High Court said. Litigants and judicial staff were being forced to continue work from the current 138-year-old building which had inadequate space, the court said. The Maharashtra government was directed to decide within the next six months on allocating space for a new, spacious High Court building with all the required infrastructure by a bench of Justice A.S. Oka and Justice M.S. Sonak. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ahmad Abdi highlighting the need to shift the court premises to a new, more spacious building was being heard by the High Court.
The current building was meant to house only six to seven courts while the Bombay High Court had a sanctioned strength of 94 judges, and at any given time, around 35 to 50 judges were serving in the court.
"Even the state is not disputing the fact that there is a need for more space. By continuing the functioning of the High Court from the current building, the state government is effectively denying access to justice to litigants," the bench said.