Heritage court building to be razed

The red taluk court building is a heritage building nearly a hundred years old.

The building was built in 1917 and before Independence it served as a taluk administrative building during the British regime. After Independence, a part of the building became the police station, while the rest of the building was taluk office.
The police station was shifted to a new building. With the construction of the mini soudha, the taluk administration also moved into it. The building then came into the hands of the legal fraternity. The pro-environment members of the Advocates Association have created a garden in the middle of the court premises. 
However, this old heritage building, which reminds one of past, is in peril. There is a proposal to demolish this builiding and come up with a Rs 3 crore court building complex. This has been announced by none other than legislator V Muniyappa.
“Shidlaghatta has been identified a backward taluk in Nanjundappa Committee Report and as a step towards development works in the district, this court building complex has been proposed.

The tender process will begin soon after the grant is released”, he said. Already a residential quarters for the judges have been constructed near Santosh Nagar on Dibburahalli Road. After the completion of the Court building complex, the present court will be shifted there.

“A sum of Rs 10 crore has been released for the taluk development. 
The taluk administration will be accomodated in a new building in the place where the present court building stands. The idea is to have all the government offices in one place”, says Taluk Advocates President M Papireddy.
Papireddy feels that the old court building needs to retained as a relic of the British times. The gallows and jail are seen even today. A part of the building should be converted into a museum, he added.