Members of the Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) have initiated a three-day hunger strike in protest against the Assam government’s decision to move the Gauhati High Court to North Guwahati. The protest, lasting six hours each day, started at 10 a.m. in front of the old High Court building at Uzan Bazar.
This move comes following a resolution passed at an emergency general meeting of the Bar Association earlier this week. Leading the protest is GHCBA President K.N. Choudhury.
The state government has proposed the establishment of a new High Court complex within a judicial township spanning over 129 bighas, or more than 42.5 acres, at Rangmahal on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River. The foundation stone for this project is set to be laid on Sunday by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, an event that the Bar Association has opted to boycott.
Describing the hunger strike as a “peaceful and democratic expression” of their dissent towards the relocation plan, the GHCBA has reiterated its opposition to moving the principal seat from its current central Guwahati location. The Bar Association has urged all advocates to honor the collective decision and refrain from attending the foundation stone-laying ceremony.
The Assam Cabinet sanctioned an allocation of Rs 479 crore in November last year for the initial phase of constructing the judicial township. The government asserts that the relocation is part of a larger scheme to develop the Brahmaputra riverfront, necessitating the use of the High Court land at Uzan Bazar.
The Gauhati High Court presently operates from a historic building alongside a modern multi-storey complex. These buildings, situated on opposite sides of Mahatma Gandhi Road, are linked by an underground tunnel with escalator facilities. The GHCBA maintains that moving the court complex would inconvenience litigants and lawyers and has demanded an immediate halt to the project, citing the interests of all stakeholders and the public.
