Hearing of cases will commence on Monday (June 12) at the new Jharkhand High Court complex, the country’s biggest in terms of area. The first case to be heard at Jharkhand High Court new complex will be appeal against the order of the Jharkhand Education Tribunal (JET). The hearing will be held on June 12 at around 2 pm. On Monday, a constitution bench will sit in which five judges including the Chief Justice will decide whether the appeal against JET’s order will go to a single bench or a division bench of the High Court.
This will be an important decision to be taken in the new building, in which the constitution bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Justice Ratnakar Bhengra, Justice Anubha Rawat Chaudhary, Justice Deepak Roshan and Justice Navneet Kumar will decide after hearing.
There were two separate orders in this matter. An appeal was filed in the High Court against the order of the Jharkhand Education Tribunal. The judgment said that an appeal against JET’s order would lie before a division bench, while in another case another bench said that the appeal would be heard by a single bench. Now the matter is with the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice has constituted a five-judge bench for hearing, transferring the matter to the constitution bench.
On June 12, not only in this matter, public interest litigations have also been listed for hearing in the High Court. In these petitions, the issue of prison reforms and overcrowding is pending. An appeal has also been made on behalf of the convicted prisoners for their release from jail, which is yet to be heard.
It may be mentioned that on May 24, President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the new Jharkhand High Court complex, the country’s biggest in terms of area. The event was also graced by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Meghwal, Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice Sanjaya Mishra and Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
President Droupadi Murmu noted the need for modern infrastructure to efficiently dispense justice and emphasised that the building should open a creche so that women “can balance their family responsibilities and their work.”
The main building complex is built on 72 acres of land, with the total campus around 167 acres in size, leaving scope for future expansion.
The complex comprises an auditorium, conference rooms, committee meeting halls, and a separate building for the Advocate General and government counsels. It has a capacity of more than 5000 people including judges, residential judges, lawyers and visitors.
It has 25 air-conditioned court blocks which will include the judge’s chamber, one ante room, one personal assistant room and one waiting room. In addition, the Chief Justice Block also includes a video conference room, a kitchen, a dining hall and a conference hall. There will be 12 separate conference rooms for the judges, 10 chambers for the registrars, and four court offices.
In addition there is sitting lounge, a judge’s library, oath commissioner’s chambers, different cells, chambers, one kitchen and one canteen.
There will be one Advocate General’s chamber, a conference hall and a library. The complex will also boast of three chambers for the Deputy Advocate Generals, and 95 chambers for Additional Public Prosecutor and other law officers.
Among the facilities for the advocates, there will be a central lobby of 14,000 square feet, separate recreation halls for men (two) and women lawyers (one), four halls for advocate clerks, and a Bar room. There will also be two halls for advocates with a seating capacity of 1,660 people, 76 senior advocate chambers with toilets and pantry attached ,and 369 advocate chambers. Two kitchens and two canteens have been constructed for lawyers.
Among additional buildings there will be two typist blocks, one dispensary, one amenities block, a 70-men barracks (for security personnel), and four watchtowers. 500 CCTV cameras have been installed too. There is a parking capacity of 2,000 vehicles.
The tender for the new high court complex in sprawling 165 acres had been floated in February 2015, and construction work began in June 2015, with a 30-month deadline (2017). However, after a long delay the structure would be finally inaugurated on May 24.
More than 4,400 saplings have also been planted. On June 12 too the HC judges will plant saplings at HC new complex.
The campus will be lit by solar energy. About 60 per cent of the power supply in the entire region will be from solar energy only. For this, a 2,000 KVA solar power plant has been set up in the parking area.
