In the Supreme Court of India Civil Appellate Jurisdiction
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION I.A. NO. __________ / 2020 IN CIVIL APPEAL NO. 3264-3265 OF 2015 IN THE MATTER OF: BANGALORE TURF CLUB LTD. … APPELLANT VERSUS STATE OF KARNATAKA & ORS. … RESPONDENTS AND IN THE MATTER OF: S. BASAVARAJ, ADVOCATE AND MEMBER KARNATAKA STATE BAR COUNCIL NO.1, FIRST FLOOR, FIRST MAIN ROAD, BASAVESHWARA LAYOUT, VIJAYANAGAR, BANGALORE 560040 … INTERVENTION APPLICANT AN APPLICATION FOR INTERVENTION (PAPER BOOK) (FOR INDEX : PLEASE SEE INSIDE) ADVOCATE FOR THE APPLICANT(S): ANKUR S. KULKARNI RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Sl.No. Date of proceedings Page No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. INDEX Sl. No. Particulars Page Nos. 1. An Application for intervention 1 - 10 alongwith affidavit 2. Vakalatnama 11 3. Filing Memo 12 1 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION I.A. NO. OF 2020 IN CIVIL APPEAL NO. 3264-3265 OF 2015 IN THE MATTER OF: BANGALORE TURF CLUB LTD. … APPELLANT VERSUS STATE OF KARNATAKA & ORS. … RESPONDENTS AND IN THE MATTER OF: S. BASAVARAJ, ADVOCATE AND MEMBER KARNATAKA STATE BAR COUNCIL NO.1, FIRST FLOOR, FIRST MAIN ROAD, BASAVESHWARA LAYOUT, VIJAYANAGAR, BANGALORE 560040 … INTERVENTION APPLICANT AN APPLICATION FOR INTERVENTION To The Hon’ble Chief Justice of India And His Companion Justices of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. Humble application of the Applicant above named. MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH: 1. The applicant, a practicing Advocate and also Member of the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) prefers the present Application for Intervention in the instant Civil Appeal which is pending before this Hon’ble Court. 2 2. It is submitted that the applicant is an advocate practicing in Bangalore for last 33 years. He is also Member of Karnataka State Bar Council and Member, Law Academy of the Karnataka State Bar Council. The applicant established “Daksha Legal Charitable Trust” in 2015 for the welfare of junior advocates in the State of Karnataka. With his contribution, he has rendered financial help to hundreds of needy junior advocates and their families who suffer illness, meet with accident and due to untimely death. The applicant is the founder of one of the largest social network knowledge sharing group “Daksha Legal” and has conducted several seminars and lecture series for the benefit of the junior advocates. The applicant is also associated with several NGOs like “Samaja Parivarthan Samudaya” and fought for saving 80,000 acres of forest Kappathagudda, Gadag, Karnataka and also preservation of Hampi World Heritage site. The applicant has thus locus to file this application as a responsible citizen. 3. It is most respectfully submitted that Karnataka High Court which is the highest judicial institution of the State is crumbling for want of space. The principal bench building is suffering due to lack of space to meet some of the basic necessities such as Court halls, Judges’ chambers, offices and parking space. 4. The vision of the then Chief Justice P. C. Jain and positive response from the then Government resulted in construction of a new block facing Cubbon Park. The extension of entire 3 building was made in 1995 that spanned across an area of 2,40,508 sq. ft. built in the same style of architecture. 5. However, to maintain architectural integrity, the new building was built almost as an exact replica of the old building without much provision for many aspects such as required number of Court halls, Judges Chambers, Offices etc. Even the basic requirement of parking at basement level could not be made since the design of the new building was to synchronise with the old one almost in all aspects. There is no possibility of putting additional floors either on the old or the new annex structure. 6. The Karnataka High Court is currently functional in Bangalore, Dharwad and Kalaburagi. The new benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi were inaugurated on 4 and 5 July 2008, respectively. Dharwad circuit bench became a permanent bench from 25 August 2013 and Kalaburagi circuit bench became a permanent bench from 31 August 2013. While the benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi are spacious enough to meet the requirement, the principal bench at Bangalore is facing severe space crisis. 7. The sanctioned strength of the Karnataka High Court is 62. As of now 45 Judges are appointed. Few more judges are likely to be appointed soon. Even the strength of the High Court is likely to be increased. The numbers of court halls as of now are 38 and the judges’ chambers are 40 as against the immediate requirement of 45 each. The High Court, to be fully functional, must have 62 Court halls and same 4 number of Judges Chambers. Presently, it is impossible to add even a single Judge’s chamber let alone a court hall. One hall is split into two court halls and Judges chambers are used by rotation. About 60,000 sq. ft. of area in basement is being used for various offices purposes. A public interest litigation is pending which questions usage of basement. If a decision were to be taken to vacate this area, the High Court needs another 60,000 sq. ft. 8. Advocates Association Bengaluru (AAB) at High Court is just two big halls which are not composite. One hall is in the old building and the other, in new building. A single composite block is absolutely necessary given the fact that AAB is one of the largest advocates associations in Asia. 9. The Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) which was established in 1961 has been in search of a place/building for last more than 59 years. Hitherto, KSBC occupied a portion of Karnataka Government Insurance Department (KGID) building. Even now, it does not have a space of its own. It was only in 2019, the old Election Commission building adjacent to KGID building was given to KSBC that too subject to the condition that KSBC should shift when alternate accommodation is provided by the government. Being the premier most Statutory body representing more than 1 lakh lawyers, KSBC must have its own building with chambers, offices and auditoriums. 10. There is no place for Law Academy to conduct its programmes. Even the Bar Council enrolments are being 5 done in the premises of the existing building in a constrained atmosphere. In contrast, the building opposite i.e. Vidhana Soudha has four floors above and one floor below ground level and sprawls across an area of 2,300 by 1,150 feet (700 m × 350 m). The building is rectangular in shape measuring 700 feet north-south and 350 feet east- west, with two inner open quadrangles on either side of the central wing measuring about 230 feet by 230 feet each. The northern wings with a ground and three upper floors is 63 feet 6 inches high, while the southern wing with a cellar floor, a ground floor, and three upper floors is 73 feet 6 inches high from the ground level. The Central Wing with a Banquet Hall on the ground floor and the Legislative Assembly Chamber above is 112 feet high. It is one of the largest Legislative buildings. Even then, the space crunch led to construction of a replica i.e. Vikas Soudha. It was built to house numerous government and legislative offices which would in turn take away the load from the Vidhana Soudha. It was built over a land area of about 8 acres. The building comprises eight floors housing 15 conference halls and 360 rooms. 11. The Karnataka High Court building facing Cubbon Park is a new building. However, the applicant is given to understand that technically it is not possible to construct any additional floors on the new annex building. As of now, only ground and first floor are constructed to synchronise with the old building. High Court building lacks built up area even for basic necessities. 6 12. Under these circumstances, in the most respectful submission of the applicant, the Bangalore Turf Club land or a substantial portion of it is the most suitable and can be utilised to provide for the space crunch in the High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru and its associated concerns. The Karnataka State cabinet has already decided to shift Bangalore Turf Club. The entire land area is 85 acres and it belongs to Government. Shifting of Bangalore Turf Club is imminent. The entire area is available for a planned development with greenery ensured. 13. The Bangalore Turf Club has 85 acres. The entire area can be given to Judiciary for construction of Judicial Complex. The Judicial Complex can have about 1 crore square feet built-up area and the entire judicial establishments in the City of Bangalore can be accommodated in the building. The building can be a state-of-the-art structure with all judicial establishments in the city of Bangalore including High Court, Civil Court, Criminal Court, Labour Court, Family Court and all judicial establishments, auditoriums, meetings halls, chambers for lawyers, Judicial Academy, Karnataka State Bar Council, Advocates Academy, Advocates Association etc. Of course a mini-forest can be established on the land since buildings can go vertical thus leaving enormous space for park and mini-forest. 14. As of now, the judicial establishments are scattered all over the city of Bangalore. To reach from one court to another is 7 an absolute nightmare given the traffic situation in Bengaluru. A comprehensive, combined and consolidated judicial complex will be a much needed long term solution. 15. That if all the judicial establishments are shifted to the new Judicial Complex, about 20,00,000 square feet presently occupied by judicial establishments in the city can be made available for the Government.