The Maharashtra government has informed the Bombay high court that two floors of the GT Hospital building would be made available to the high court by the end of this year to accommodate its administrative offices.
Advocate general Darius Khambatta informed the court last week that a third floor would also be emptied by February next year and handed over for court offices.
These floors are being used by staff of the state headquarters, which had to be evacuated after a fire at the Mantralaya building in June 2012.
A division bench of judges Abhay Oka and Girish Kulkarni was hearing a public interest litigation by advocate Ahmed Abdi, who described the paucity of space at the high court in the context of the ever-increasing number of cases.
The court registry had previously sent a proposal to the government to allot the Central Telegraph Office for its use. That building, which is across the road from the court, is largely unused since the telegram service was discontinued sometime ago.
Anil Singh, additional solicitor general, told the court that it is also proposed to allot some floors of the MTNL building nearby to the court and a meeting is scheduled to decide on this soon.
During the hearing, Khambatta suggested that the annexe building opposite the high court building could be demolished and a new building constructed to provide space for more court rooms.
Judge Abhay Oka said a long-term solution would have to be worked out to manage the growing volume of litigation.
The PIL also made a plea for allotment of land at Bandra-Kurla Complex for a new court building. Khambatta pointed out that the Bandra-Kurla area was under the control of the MMRDA, which auctions the plots and uses the funds for its projects. Therefore, this may not be feasible.
The hearing will continue on October 10.
The issue has been discussed separately between the chief minister and the chief justice, after which the proposal to allot the CTO building was put forward.
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