[BREAKING] Maharashtra government to allot 30.16 acres of land in Bandra for new Bombay High Court building

The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that it has decided to allot 30.16 acres of land in Bandra for the construction of new building for the High Court..A formal government resolution (GR) to that effect will be issued shortly, Advocate General (AG) Dr. Birendra Saraf told a division bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne.A memorandum has been signed with the public works department (PWD) to that effect, the AG said.The AG informed the Court that the land was presently reserved for government housing and the State will require some time to change the reservation to one for a commercial complex.Once that is done, the State will proceed to issue the GR, it was submitted.He also stated that the land will be at Bandra East and will have central tribunals as well as chambers for lawyers (8.9 acres) along with the High Court building (21 acres) which will also house judge's quarters.A portion of the land will be commercially developed for lawyers' chambers and the government will receive revenue from the same.The Court was hearing a plea seeking contempt of court action against State government authorities for non-compliance with a 2019 High Court order on land allotment..The petitioner, Ahmed Abdi, argued that the contempt petition has been pending for 6 years and the State has not taken any action yet.Abdi claimed the State was in contempt of the order passed by the High Court in January 2019 in the public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by him in 2012 seeking a new building for the High Court on a priority basis.The High Court had, in January 2019, directed the State government to take a decision on offering a large and convenient plot of land for construction of a new complex for the High Court.Since the 2019 order, the State government has completely failed and deliberately ignored' to take steps towards the order, the petitioner contended.The Court had, during the hearing of the matter on March 9, asked the State to take a decision on the land allotment soon..After today's development, the Court disposed of the contempt petition but granted liberty to Abdi to move a fresh plea if there is no further action from the State.