Guwahati, August 02, 2023: The Gauhati Bar Association has expressed its strong opposition to the Assam government’s plan to relocate the Gauhati High Court from its current location in the city centre to Rangmahal in North Guwahati, about 23 km away on the other side of the Brahmaputra River.

The association said it has the support of other bar associations in its resolution to resist the proposed relocation, which was announced by a notification on May 23 this year. The lawyers, who had held a demonstration on June 27 against the plan, have threatened to intensify their agitation if the government does not reconsider its decision.

The association president Mrinal Kumar Choudhury said that the relocation would cause inconvenience and hardship to the lawyers, litigants and common people, and that there was no public interest involved in the move. He said that the current premises of the high court, which consist of an old building constructed in 1960 and a new building built 10 years ago at a cost of Rs 100 crore, were adequate and spacious enough for the courts and the lawyers.

He questioned the need for further expansion, which would cost around Rs 1,000 crore, when the state was already burdened with heavy loans. He also dismissed the parking issue as a minor problem that could be solved easily. He alleged that the relocation plan was influenced by some vested interests, which he did not name.

He vowed that the lawyers’ community would not allow the shifting of the Gauhati High Court to North Guwahati and would continue to oppose the move.