Assam: Lawyers body seeks clarification on law minister’s statement over Gauhati HC’s relocation

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) on Wednesday sought clarification from Assam law minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass on shifting the High Court from the present location to Rangmahal in North Guwahati.

Dass, while replying to an unstarred question from AGP MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita during the Question Hour of the Assam Assembly on Tuesday, said the Gauhati High Court along with several other courts and tribunals in Kamrup Metro district will be shifted to Rangmahal in North Guwahati.

Dass said, “The decision was taken after discussions with the Gauhati High Court for setting up a state-of-the-art judicial complex at Rangmahal. Since the land adjacent to the present High Court complex is limited, it is not possible to set up a state-of-the-art judicial city at the present location. This step has been taken to establish the state-of-the-art judicial infrastructure to meet the long-term requirements of all stakeholders.”

Dass mentioned that the decision has been taken in the interest of providing all facilities to the members of the lawyers’ association and the public by establishing a composite structure of a new High Court building and other courts for all the courts and tribunals falling under Kamrup Metropolitan district as well as by constructing an adequate number of advocates' rooms, seating areas, library, adequate parking space and other facilities.

 Upon being questioned about the massive protest by members of the Bar Association against the decision to relocate the Gauhati High Court, Dass substantiated with the letter attached below.…

Reacting to the minister’s statement, GHCBA president Mrinal Kumar Choudhury and secretary general Girin Pegu said, “We are shocked by the statement made by the minister which is contrary to the assurance given by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to the representatives of the Bar Association.”

In a statement here, Choudhury and Pegu said “We have submitted a memorandum inter-alia to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and resorted to sit-in-demonstration opposing such move which was also supported by other associations of lawyers in the city as well as some NGOs.”

“A meeting was held with the chief minister at his office on September 30, 2023, with representatives of the Gauhati High Court Bar Association. In the meeting, the chief minister assured that after the new bridge connecting North Guwahati and Guwahati is completed and becomes functional, a ground study will be made to ascertain how long it actually takes to travel from High Court to Rangmahal. If and only if it takes a short time, then only the process of acquisition of land may start.”

 “It was also told that the High Court is asking for 250 bighas of land which is not possible to acquire in the Rangmahal area. Further, the Central government has to sanction funds for the acquisition of land as the state is short of funds and nothing has been budgeted by the state for the project,” they said.

“These are all uncertain factors. It may take 20 years to materialize such a project and it would not affect the present generation of lawyers. But yesterday the minister informed the State Assembly that the High Court would be shifted to Rangmahal. This was reported in the newspapers and the media channels and there was no contradiction from the government,” they also said.

“The statement of the law minister also indicates that the stand of the state government has been communicated to the association. The association stated with dismay that it has not been communicated with any such decision of the state government regarding shifting of the High Court,” they further said.

“We therefore demand that the law minister shall clarify this matter in the Assembly itself at the earliest,” they added.