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High Court asks Chandigarh how 7-storey building came up in Sector-9
The HC bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Anil Kshetarpal has also asked the administration whether any objections were raised by the Chandigarh Heritage Committee during conceptualisation of the plans and construction of the seven-storey building. If not, then why did the committee not object to it.
The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has directed the Chandigarh administration to apprise the court how the seven-storey civil secretariat building was constructed in Sector-9.
The HC bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Anil Kshetarpal has also asked the administration whether any objections were raised by the Chandigarh Heritage Committee during conceptualisation of the plans and construction of the seven-storey building. If not, then why did the committee not object to it.
“If yes, then the report of the heritage committee be placed on record,” the bench further ordered, adding that it also be spelt out as to what is the maximum permissible limit for construction in any of the heritage sectors -- from Sector 1 to 30 --in the city.
Details were sought when a lawyer had submitted that on one hand, the heritage committee is seriously objecting to the holistic development plan of the HC, while on the other, the UT administration has built up a seven-storey secretariat for itself in Sector 9, which is a heritage sector.
The submissions were made during hearing of a 2023 public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Vinod Dhaterwal, an office-bearer of the high court employees’ association, demanding infrastructure development of the HC complex in wake of the increasing traffic congestion, space crunch and implementation of the holistic development plan.
The plan, conceptualised more than a decade back, envisages setting up of multi-storey buildings to cater to the requirement of additional space at the high court complex.
UT has been arguing that expansion at the present site is not possible as the area abutting the complex falls in Sukhna catchment area. Moreover, it is a heritage site. It is to be recalled that in September 2023, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee had suspended three projects -- an underground multi-level parking lot at the Capitol Complex, holistic development plan for Punjab and Haryana high court and one more project.
UT has now offered 15 acre of land in Sarangpur for high court expansion. However, the lawyers and employees have been demanding that more space be given at the present complex.
