[ Bengia Ajum ]
NAHARLAGUN, 31 Jul: Chief Justice of India(CJI), BR Gavai, will inaugurate the new building of the Gauhati High Court’s Itanagar Permanent Bench here on 10 August.
Gauhati High Court (HC) Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, and several others are expected to attend the inauguration programme. The new state-of-the-art high court building has five courtrooms, along with other facilities.
The total cost of the project is Rs 135.35 crore, and it has been executed by the Public Works Department,with Guwahati-based M/s Ganapati Construction Company as the construction agency. The work on the project commenced in February 2021. The high court’s foundation had been laid by Chief Minister Pema Khandu in 2018 in Naharlagun. At present, the Gauhati High Court’s Itanagar Permanent Bench is temporarily functioning from Yupia.
The last court proceeding at Yupia will be on 8 August. From 11 August, the court proceedings will start at the new building here, and Justice Ashutosh Kumar will conduct the first court on that day.
Meanwhile, Gauhati High Court, Itanagar Permanent Bench Bar Association president TT Tara said that “the entire state is waiting for the historic day.”
“The inauguration of the new high court building is long awaited. This is an important occasion in the journey of the Gauhati High Court, Itanagar Permanent Bench. Hopefully, the next logical step will be a separate high court for the state,” said Tara.
Further, he informed that on 12 August, the bar association will celebrate 25 years of the establishment of the Gauhati High Court, Itanagar Permanent Bench.
At present, Arunachal Pradesh does not have a separate high court. The Itanagar Permanent Bench of the Gauhati High Court was inaugurated on 12 August, 2000 by the then governor Arvind Dave. In 2013, the central government had in principle agreed to provide a separate high court to Arunachal.
While attending a joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts in New Delhi, the then chief minister Nabam Tuki had demanded a separate high court, to which the then union law minister Ashwini Kumar and the then chief justice of India Altamas Kabir had in unison agreed.
