Bombay High Court building should remain with judiciary even after HC shifts to new building: Justice Abhay S Oka

Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S Oka on Monday said there was a 20-year delay in commencing work for the new complex of Bombay High Court.

Justice Oka also stressed that the existing High Court building should remain a judicial institution at any cost.

"I am extremely privileged to be part of this historic function, but I believe that an occasion to arrange this function should [have] arisen at least 20 years earlier... I am expressing my strong personal views on this subject in the presence of highest political dignitaries of the state even if High Court is shifted to the newly constructed building the building should remain with the judiciary. The building was constructed for and it must remain with judiciary."

Justice Oka suggested that upon completion of construction of the new building at Bandra in Mumbai, the existing premises can be used as a museum or a mediation and conciliation centre.

Justice Oka was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the new Bombay High Court complex, at an event organised at Taj Lands End.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Supreme Court judges Justice BR Gavai, Ujjal Bhuyan, Dipankar Datta and Prasanna B Varale were also present on the occasion.

Bombay High Court Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Maharashtra Advocate General Birendra Saraf, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis also graced the event.

This is not the first time Justice Oka has spoken about the new Bombay High Court complex.

In September 2022, he had said that instead of felicitating then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit with bouquets and mementos, the Maharashtra government should felicitate him by allocating land for the new complex.