New Delhi, Aug 7 The Maharashtra government on Friday told the Supreme Court that the process of selection of bids for construction of the new Bombay High Court complex at Bandra in Mumbai would be completed by the year-end.
The top court was hearing a suo motu case titled "In Re: Heritage Building of the Bombay High Court and allotment of additional lands for the High Court".
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was apprised of the developments made so far in the case by Advocate General Milind Sathe, representing the state government.
The state law officer told the bench that the steering committee held a meeting with representatives of Bar to address the concerns of all the stakeholders.
A meeting was held and the conceptual plans were finalised on July 23, he said.
He said structural drawings, architectural plans and construction plans were being prepared by the appointed architect and the process was expected to take around eight weeks.
The tender process and finalisation of the successful bidder would require another eight weeks, and "by the end of December the whole process of selection of bids will be completed", the advocate general said.
He said the state government had undertaken to hand over the land by July 31.
However, certain buildings on the site remained occupied by government employees and the High Court staff, he said and sought an extension of time till August 31.
He said that 23.7 acres of land had already been handed over. Of the remaining 5.4 acres, 2.5 acres will be handed over by August 31, while the balance will be transferred by December 31.
He said the project required around 45 statutory permissions.
Applications for some approvals had already been submitted, while the remaining permissions would be sought once the architectural plans were finalised, he added.
Earlier on May 18, the bench asked the Maharashtra government to expedite the process of handing over the remaining 10 acres of land for the construction of the new Bombay High Court building complex.
The state government had to allocate a total of 30.16 acres of land at the Bandra-Kurla complex in the city in a phased manner.
The Bombay High Court, founded on August 16, 1862, has been located in a building near Flora Fountain (Hutatma Chowk) since November 1878.
Keeping in mind the safety concerns and the need for more space, a new high court complex was proposed to be built in Bandra.
The new high court complex would have well-designed and spacious courtrooms, chambers for judges and registry personnel, an arbitration and mediation centre, an auditorium, a library and a host of features and amenities for staff, lawyers and litigants.
The Bombay High Court exercises jurisdiction over Maharashtra through the principal seat in Mumbai and benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Goa.
It also exercises jurisdiction over the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
The high court has a sanctioned strength of 94 judges.
