The Madras High Court has refused to quash a government order (G.O.) issued on September 14, 2018, for the handing over of a heritage building, which once housed the Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College in Chennai, and the adjoining area to the High Court so that the classrooms could be converted into court halls.
A Division Bench of Justices D. Krishnakumar and P.B. Balaji dismissed a writ petition filed by advocate A. Lloyd Ponnudurai for quashing the G.O. and the issuance of a consequential direction to establish a centre for advanced post-graduate legal studies and research in the heritage building.
The Judges pointed out that the government law college was shifted out of the heritage building on the basis of the recommendations made by the Justice P. Shunmugam Commission of Inquiry, which was constituted to probe into the violence that occurred within the college campus in 2008.
Law college bifurcated
The government bifurcated the law college in 2018 and began offering three-year law courses as well as Master’s degree courses at a newly established campus at Pattarai Perumbudur in Tiruvallur district, and five-year law courses at another new campus in Pudupakkam in Chengalpattu district.
Meanwhile, since the High Court was facing a shortage of space due to an increase in the number of judges and was scouting for space to establish new court halls, judges’ chambers, and office rooms for the registry staff, the Registrar General (R-G) wrote to the government, on September 6, 2018, seeking allotment of the heritage building.
Accepting the request made by the R-G, the government allotted the heritage building that was housing the old government law college, as well as the adjoining lands, to the High Court. Subsequently, a total of ₹23.13 crore was also allocated on June 17, 2022, for restoring the building and converting the classrooms into court halls.
Inordinate delay
Since much water had flown since 2018 and the restoration works were under way at the heritage building, the Division Bench, led by Justice Krishnakumar, said the petitioner had challenged the G.O. with an inordinate delay of six years and, hence, his plea suffered from laches.
They also said that the courts could not interfere with the administrative decisions taken by the government and pointed out that, in another batch of cases, the court had already issued a direction to the State to scout for suitable places within the Chennai city limits for the establishment of the government law college.
The Bench, therefore, granted liberty to the petitioner to approach the appropriate forum with his plea to shift the law colleges from Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu districts to Chennai.
Published - October 25, 2024 12:36 am IST
