CJI inaugurates new taluk court complex at Hubballi

Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra inaugurated a massive new court complex with state-of-the-art facilities, in Hubballi on Sunday. This is a historic occasion for the city.

The court complex which is built on five acres and 15 guntas of land, on Hosur-Unkal Cross Road at Vidyanagar, was constructed at a cost of Rs 122 crore.

This is the largest, model taluk-level court building in the entire country.

The building which is painted red, is seven-floored (B+G+5) and has 20 court halls with modern facilities.

The entire building is provided with centralised air conditioning and CCTV surveillance. Fire safety measures are state-of-the-art.

Besides judges' chambers, staff rooms, waiting rooms, elevators and other facilities are provided. The complex has ground floor and basement parking.

The new court complex construction works began in 2014. The estimated cost of first phase was revised from Rs 75 crore to Rs 98 crore. In the second phase, works at a cost of Rs 24 crore were taken up. Public Works Department (PWD) executed the project.

"This is largest taluk court in Asia. And for the first time, the CJI has inaugurated a taluk court. Court halls here are bigger than the ones in the Supreme Court," said advocate Ashok Anwekar.

Facilities

Spacious court halls here, are fitted with state-of-the-art sound systems. The seating is very comfortable. Waiting chairs are installed for clients outside the court halls. Court halls have waiting halls (for litigants) and office-rooms close by. Even the cells to hold undertrials and the accused, have toilets attached.

The building has elevators and is aesthetically designed. The new court complex premises includes a sewage treatment plant, 11 KV sub-station, and three generators. Video conferencing for special hearing of cases, and free wifi are provided.

A portion of the top floor of the building will house the bar association and a library. The bar association building will come up later above the canteen building. It will be completed at a cost of nearly Rs nine crore.

"The old court complex was congested. Now Hubballi has got a model court complex. It is beneficial for all," said Hubballi Bar Association president Ashok Baligar.

Guests

Chief Justice of India (CJI ) Dipak Misra inaugurated the new court complex on Sunday at 11:00 am, in the presence of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

Supreme Court judges Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar, Justice S Abdul Nazeer, High Court Judges Justice Ravi Malimath, and Justice Budihal R B were the guests, while High Court of Karnataka Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari presided over the function.

Legislative Council pro-tem Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, District In-charge Minister R V Deshpande, PWD Minister H D Revanna, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, MP Pralhad Joshi, and MLA Jagadish Shettar were the special invitees.

Since last week, officials were busy supervising the preparations for the function. The road in front of the new court complex was repaired and traffic was diverted. Parking arrangements were made for VIPs. Around 2,500 police personnel were on bundobust duty across the city.