In a significant development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Chandigarh administration to explore the feasibility of allotting land in the city’s IT Park area, adjacent to Panchkula, for construction of a new high court building. The directive comes amid practical constraints in the current expansion plan proposed at Sarangpur village.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry expressed concern over the viability of the Sarangpur site, noting that the area faces restricted access and frequent traffic congestion near PGIMER square. The court has sought a formal response from the Union Territory (UT) administration by August 1.
The directive was issued during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Vinod Dhatterwal, secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees’ Association. The PIL seeks implementation of a holistic development plan for the high court, including multi-storey infrastructure to meet growing space demands.
The current high court complex, located in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Capitol Complex, spans 40 acres and handles a daily footfall of over 10,000 lawyers, 3,300 court employees, and thousands of litigants, arriving in approximately 10,000 cars and numerous two-wheelers. However, the heritage status has restricted any significant expansion. UNESCO has previously blocked key development proposals, including an underground parking lot, an AC chiller plant, and the comprehensive expansion plan.
Despite a prior court order leading to the allotment of 14 acres in Sarangpur, the bench now suggests that the IT Park may offer a more suitable alternative. Sources indicate that the new location should be capable of accommodating the entire high court in the future, given the increasing demand for space.
At present, the high court has a sanctioned strength of 85 judges, but only around 50 posts are filled. The court warned that once all posts are occupied, even accommodating judges with available courtrooms will become a challenge.
In a 2023 observation, the court noted that the high court’s space requirements had surged from 2.9 lakh sq ft in 2014 to 3.21 lakh sq ft in 2018, with further increases likely. Additional land for parking was also deemed essential.
Interestingly, the court appears to have ruled out relocating the high court to Panchkula or Mohali, likely to avoid jurisdictional disputes between Punjab and Haryana. The issue is further complicated by an ongoing land swap proposal between Chandigarh and Haryana for constructing a new legislative assembly building in the IT Park area—an initiative strongly opposed by Punjab, which fears dilution of its claim over Chandigarh, the joint capital since Haryana’s creation in 1966.
