High court development plan not stalled by city’s heritage panel, says Chandigarh admn

The Chandigarh administration has told the Punjab and Haryana high court that the court complex’s holistic development plan has not been stalled by the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee (CHCC).
The CHCC has already approved the holistic plan of the high court complex in its meeting held in November 2019. However, at the Convention of World Heritage Committee held between September 10-25, 2023, in Riyadh, the project was suspended, UT adviser Rajeev Verma has told the court in an affidavit.
Verma’s affidavit comes in the backdrop of allegations from lawyers that on the one hand, the heritage committee is seriously objecting to the court complex’s holistic development plan and on the other hand, the UT administration has raised a seven-storey secretariat for itself in Sector 9, which is a heritage sector.
Verma further said a fresh heritage impact assessment for the court complex was being carried out by IIT Roorkee. As soon as it is concluded and a report is submitted, further steps will be taken on priority.
The submissions were made during hearing of a 2023 public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Vinod Dhaterwal, an office-bearer of the high court employees’ association, demanding infrastructure development of the HC complex in the wake of increasing traffic congestion and space crunch.
The plan, conceptualised more than a decade back, envisages setting up of multi-storey buildings to cater to the requirement of additional space at the high court complex. However, the plan had to be put on hold as Capitol Complex was declared a World Heritage site in 2016.
Spread over more than 100 acres in Sector 1, Capitol Complex is the prime manifestation of Chandigarh’s architecture designed by Le Corbusier, with the Shivalik hills in the backdrop making the sight more serene and grand. The buildings at the Capitol Complex include the Open Hand monument, Punjab and Haryana high court, Tower of Shadows, Geometric Hill, the legislative assembly and the secretariat.
UT has now offered 15 acres in Sarangpur for the high court expansion. However, the lawyers and employees have been demanding that more space be given at the present site.
Secretariat planned in 2005, CHCC came into being in 2012: UT adviser to HC
To the questions asked by high court about UT constructing for itself a seven-storey secretariat in Sector 9, a heritage sector, Verma has told the court that the plan to develop a secretariat was conceptualised in 2005, when CHCC was not in place.
The 2.7 acres in Sector 9 were approved in October 2005. “When the building plans and drawings of the UT administration secretariat were being undertaken and conceptualised, the approval and consideration of the same was being done by the chief architect to ensure that the building being raised or planned to be raised is in consonance with the Architectural Control Building Rules and bylaws prevailing at the relevant time,” Verma said in the affidavit.
The height of the building was adjusted to seven floors in view of prevailing norms. In April 2012, CHCC was constituted for conservation of heritage and regulate the city’s growth. In March 2014, CHCC gave its nod to the building in question while suggesting curtailment of the facade area, the adviser has told the court.