The UT administration has accorded approval for earmarking 15 acres of land in Sarangpur for high court expansion projects.
UT adviser Rajiv Verma stated this in an affidavit filed before the high court bench of acting chief justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Lapita Banerji on Thursday.
The high court was hearing the plea by Punjab and Haryana High Court Employees Association secretary Vinod Dhatterwal, seeking implementation of the holistic development plan, which envisages setting up of multi-storey buildings to cater to the requirement of additional space.
The UT administration has approved 2.0 floor-to-area ratio as per high court’s requirement. Even the Chandigarh heritage conservation committee (CHCC) has approved creation of parking space behind MLA hostel in Sector 4 by laying green pavers. Necessary steps will be taken on priority basis to make the aforesaid parking functional and usable at earliest, the adviser informed the court.
On January 19, the high court had directed the administration to allot 15 acres in Sarangpur for future projects. However, in a letter written to the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), UT had suggested that for the expansion plans given by the high court, 8.5 acres of land would be “justified”. When the contents of this letter came to fore, high court had sought an affidavit from the UT adviser on the issue.
The adviser had then told court that the administration was ready and willing to ensure that all additional space requirements of the court were dealt with at the “highest priority”. He also suggested that the high court can be offered another plot of 8.5 acres in Sarangpur as an alternative site. The contiguous piece of 8.5 acres will be able to accommodate a construction of more than 4,62,000 square feet against the demand of holistic development plan of about 3.21 lakh square feet, the adviser had submitted in the affidavit.
{{/usCountry}}The adviser had then told court that the administration was ready and willing to ensure that all additional space requirements of the court were dealt with at the “highest priority”. He also suggested that the high court can be offered another plot of 8.5 acres in Sarangpur as an alternative site. The contiguous piece of 8.5 acres will be able to accommodate a construction of more than 4,62,000 square feet against the demand of holistic development plan of about 3.21 lakh square feet, the adviser had submitted in the affidavit.
{{/usCountry}}Referring to minutes of meeting of the stakeholders held last month, the high court had then observed that the super area for holistic development plan for the high court was originally 3,21,000 square feet approximately, but now the deficit carpet area in square feet comes to 4,29,302.
The case will now come up for hearing on May 7.