The Supreme Court on Wednesday expedited the process of shifting the Uttarakhand High Court building to a new location in Nainital district by directing the state government to transfer the land allotted for the new building within six weeks.
The order came in a petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association challenging an order passed on May 8, 2024 by the Supreme Court which ordered a plebiscite among lawyers to shift the building from the current location in Malital to Haldwani within the same area.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant set aside the May 2024 order and said, “The Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to pass such an order on the judicial side. Such issues should be dealt with on the administrative side.”
The Supreme Court stayed the HC ruling on May 24, 2024, but since the process of allotment of land for the new Supreme Court complex was at an advanced stage, the Supreme Court moved an application before the Supreme Court to join it as a party to pass the necessary orders.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Uttarakhand government, informed the court that the Nainital district administration had in May this year offered three plots of land in Haldwani district for the proposed construction of the Supreme Court building and associated facilities. Pursuant to this, the Full Supreme Court indicated its preference for the requirement of 40 hectares of land.
Referring to the sequence of events, the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalia Bagchi and V Mohana, said, “We have learned that the state government has allotted land for construction of the building. Let the said land be handed over to the Supreme Court not later than six weeks.”
The court noted the need for the state to obtain all legal approvals and ensure that the green cover of the surrounding area is preserved.
The Uttarakhand High Court is currently housed in a heritage building that was built in 1900 and cannot be renovated. When it was established in 2000, there were not many cases to deal with. However, over time, the volume of cases increased from a mere 356 to 61,859 (on July 2, 2026). Last year, the Supreme Court wrote to the Center to increase the number of existing approved judges from 11 to 21.
As per the UP Reorganization Act, 2000, the headquarters of the High Court in Uttarakhand is notified by the President of India. However, any decision to seat judges elsewhere in the state is made by the Chief Justice, with the approval of the Governor of the State.
Citing this, the state objected to a May 2024 order passed by the SC that bypassed the governor’s approval by ordering a referendum.
The decision to shift the existing HC building to a new location within Nainital district was under consideration in 2022. In September 2022, the state proposed a plot of land for the purpose which was approved by the Full Court decision in the same year. In November 2022, the state government gave its nod to the proposal. However, the area of land in question was only 26 hectares and became the subject of a legal proceeding in the Supreme Court under which the proposal was redrafted.
