Lawyers Protest against Shifting of Gauhati HC to North Guwahati

The Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) staged a sit-in protest on Tuesday in front of Gauhati High Court to express their discontent over Assam government’s decision to shift the court from Guwahati to Rangmahal in Kamrup (Rural) district on the Northern Bank of river Brahmaputra.

Earlier on June 16, the bar association submitted a memorandum to the President of India demanding cancellation of the decision to shift the High Court.

“The proposal though may sound to be very palatable proposition on paper, the project, if implemented would rather cause a great deal of hardship to the lawyers practicing in the Gauhati High Court and the various other Courts and Tribunals located with the city. The practicing advocated have over the years built up their establishments and chambers in the city and in the event they have to attend Courts at Rangmahal, it would have serious impact on their working style and functioning, as a lot of time would be lost every day, while travelling to and from the Courts from different parts of Guwahati, which covers an area of 216 square kms. approximately. The young lawyers and especially the lady lawyer would be seriously affected if they have to travel all the way to Rangmahal,” the memorandum said.

“The present location of the Gauhati High Court and other courts which are scattered nearby can be accessed by lawyers and litigants converging from various directions of the city. Even assuming that the new bridge that is being constructed would shorten the distance between Guwahati and Rangmahal, the fact remains that, lawyers and litigants will have to converge at one or two points and finally cross the bridge from a particular point over the river or in its bank and take a single route which would create severe traffic congestion over the bridge and as a result of which valuable time, fuel and energy would be wasted, in the process adversely impacting the system and even the environment. It can be reasonably expected that during the peak hours, the rush of vehicles trying to cross the bridge at a time, would lead to utter chaos,” it added.

It further said, “The members also expressed concerns over the fact that bridge under construction over the Brahmaputra is being constructed by the same firm which was also constructing a bridge over the Ganga at Bihar, which had collapsed like a pack of cards a few days back. The said bridge is supposed to cut the distance between Guwahati and Rangmahal but when the construction of the Bridge itself raises concern, given the distinction of the construction company engaged, the decision to construct the Judicial City may be a disaster in lurking.”

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