Original architectural design of Patna HC goes missing

Original architectural design of the 100-year-old iconic Patna High Court modelled on the plan of the grand Allahabad High Court building has gone missing.

Built in a neo-classical style based on a Palladian design, the majestic building was formally inaugurated in an impressive ceremony on February 3, 1916.

Year-long celebrations marked the centenary of this august institution, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling the curtains on it here yesterday.

A thick volume containing rare archival images of the court, including of the foundation stone laying in 1913 and its opening, was released on the opening of the centenary functions on April l8, 2015, but the souvenir did not contain any image of the record of its architectural plans.

"For our centenary celebrations, we dug into our old archives and material available at the court museum. While we were able to retrieve some rare pictures and artifacts related to its history, our efforts to find the building plan proved futile.

"Yes, it is the centenary time and we wanted people to know the glorious history of this institution, but sadly we could not trace the original plan of the court's building," Registrar General, Patna High Court, Vinod Kumar Sinha told PTI.

The Centenary Committee which was set up to organise the celebrations also commissioned a documentary chronicling the 100 years of the historic court which was screened yesterday.

City-based filmmaker Rajesh Bhushan, who piloted the film project said, we "moved heaven and earth" trying to locate the original design of the building, but we were left disappointed.

"The film is about 20 odd minutes and tells the story of the court, including its inception, the architecture and the landmark cases which are now lodged in history books.

"We received some of the old rare images, including of the foundation-stone laying opening ceremony but even they were not in good condition and so we had to restore them or take a shot directly as they were too fragile to scan," he said.

The building, now an iconic city landmark sitting pretty on the equally historic Bailey Road, was designed by J F Munnings who was assisted by A M Millwood. It was built by Martin & Co., whose promoter Sir R N Mukherjee even attended the opening function in 1916.

"We even travelled to the parent company's office (now Martin Burn & Co.) in Kolkata and met the current officials there. They tried to look up in their archives but we ran out of luck there as well," Mishra rued.

"It would have been a complete tribute if he had been able to trace the designs. It would also have been a homage to the two architects who gave Patna its iconic New Capital Area dotted with some of the most fabulous buildings," he said.

Incidentally, the design of the Patna High Court was inspired from the plan of the new building of the Allahabad High Court which was designed by famous architect Frank Lishman and also completed in 1916.

The High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces (later Allahabad High Court) came into being in 1866 and functioned from an old building, which is still in use today.