The Centre has told the Parliament on Friday that it has received no proposal from the union territory of Chandigarh for augmentation of infrastructure at the district courts of Chandigarh.“The primary responsibility for development of infrastructure facilities for district and subordinate courts rests with the state governments/UTs. However, to augment the resources of states/UTs, Central government has been implementing since 1993-94 a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for the development of infrastructure facilities for judiciary in the district and subordinate courts,” minister of state (independent charge), Ministry of law and justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal said to the questions asked by Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari.
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Meghwal further said that under the CSS, financial assistance is provided in the prescribed fund-sharing pattern and high courts are not covered under the ambit of this scheme.The minister said that the high court has a sanctioned strength of 85 judges, 69 court halls and 64 residential units for them. For lawyers, there are 131 chambers at the high court complex.
“No judicial infrastructure has been created in Chandigarh under the CSS for the development of infrastructure facilities for the judiciary in the district and subordinate courts… No funds under the CSS were released to the UT of Chandigarh during the last five years, as no demand/proposal was received from the UT of Chandigarh for augmentation of judicial infrastructure,” the minister said.
The minister further said that the government has taken several initiatives to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary which, inter-alia, includes amalgamation of latest technologies under the e-courts mission mode project, better infrastructure for courts, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation. The Phase-III of the e-courts Project (2023-2027) was approved in September 2023 with an outlay of ₹7,210 crore. The minister also mentioned that the high court has issued an action plan for achieving case disposal targets in the district and subordinate courts between April 2026 and March 2027.
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For district courts, the sanctioned strength is 30 and there are 31 court rooms, 29 residential units and 440 chambers for lawyers.Notably, the high court and UT administration have started work on expanding the high court complex, aiming to create 40 more courts and other facilities at the complex. However, this proposal was not mentioned in the reply.
The minister also informed that three residential units have been completed for high court judges during the last five years.
