Chief Justice of India SA Bobde inaugurates new Bombay High Court building at Goa

Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde on Saturday inaugurated the new building for the Bombay High Court at Goa. .The new building is located at Porvorim on the banks of the river Mandovi.It has been built over an area of 31861 square meters and is equipped with state of the art facilities like seven court halls fitted with video conference facilities, mikes, recording facilities, video conference rooms, solar panels, electricity power station integrated with solar energy, rain water harvesting, green roof and lightening protection system. .The old seat of the Goa Bench was at Panaji. The Goa Bench functions with four judges. .Supreme Court judges, Justices NV Ramana and BR Gavai, Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta, Bombay High Court judge, Justice SS Shinde, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant were present for the inaugural function on Saturday. .CJ Datta gave the welcome address. He expressed his privilege to have completed 11 months at "the second oldest and the largest" high court. He welcomed Justice NV Ramana calling him an "upholder of civil liberties" and Justice BR Gavai as "people's judge.".CJ Datta expressed hope that the new building will enhance efficiency, early adjudication and early delivery of judgments without compromising on with the quality of the judgments. .Advocate General of State of Goa Devidas Pangam stated that everyone must strive to make the new building into a temple of justice. "This building must become a symbol of justice… If we vouch to work with dignity and integrity, then this place will be temple of justice."He concluded his address with a message from the Advocate General of State of Maharashtra Ashutosh Kumbhakoni who conveyed his best wishes and while expressing regret for not being able to attend the event due to personal reasons. .Supreme Court Justice BR Gavai du his address pointed out that CJI Bobde had visited the Goa Bench around 8 times during his tenure as a judge in the High Court..Supreme Court judge, Justice BR Gavai recounted the pleasant experience had while sitting as judge on Goa Bench of Bombay High Court. He also stated that the Bar Association at Goa was the best and that he had learnt a lot from the members of the Goa Bar. .Union Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that even though the High Court Bench at Goa was established for a small state, it soon rose to prominence because of its judgments, mainly on the subjects of environment conservation and sustainable development. The concerns which those judgments flagged always remained relevant..In this regard, the Law Minister also dwelt upon the 'Environment v Development' debate. "This whole competing claim between sustainable development and job opportunity and business return is a little complicated. However the final solution to the problem is to maintain a happy balance between conserving environment and business growth," he said. This competing claim would find a robust answer from the Supreme Court which will lead to a healthy blend between the two, he added. .Prasad opined that for rendering judicial infrastructure support, the Central government, State government and the judiciary have to co-operate with each other. In a lighter vein, he pointed out that the country was kept running by all the departments under him (Communications, Electronics & IT and Law & justice) referring to the role played by mobile phones, internet and IT operations during the pandemic. .Prasad also complimented the judiciary for the manner in which it rose to the occasion during Covid -19 pandemic. "The great wheel of justice did not stop. It managed all three aspects: Expectation of litigants, role of lawyers and justice delivery," he said. .In this regard, Prasad also gave some statistics regarding the work done by courts across India during the pandemic. "The Supreme Court alone heard 59,309 cases, the high courts heard 27,58,560 cases and the subordinate courts heard 54,46,876 cases. Bombay High Court heard 64,813 cases virtually through virtually and for district court 61,668 cases.".He also raised a concerns about the trend of filing of public interest litigation petitions and about sustained campaigns on social media about the "type of judgment" courts should deliver in cases. "If said judgment comes with a different outcome, then they start criticizing the judgment and trolling the judge. Criticizing a judgment is your right, but campaigning against a judge on social media is plainly not fair. If judiciary has to work and discharge its duties, it must be left completely free, for all judges to decide cases as per rule of law. This campaign justice is plainly not acceptable," he said..CJI Bobde congratulated CJ Datta and the judges this High Court for the brand new magnificent high court building in Goa with all the state of art facilities. .He called the building "a testament of judicial infrastructure infused with modern technology". He further congratulated the judicial administration of Goa and the Government of Goa for the making the new building a reality. .He concluded his speech by proposing to the Union Law Minister that the Principal Bench of the High Court also required a new building. "The Bombay building was constructed for 7 judges, it now houses more than 40. It is impossible (to function), and the proposal is pending with the government," he stated..He concluded his speech by requesting Supreme Court Justice NV Ramana who is set to take over as CJI in April to pursue the case for a new building for Bombay High Court's principal bench with full might.