‘Access blocked by PGI chaos’: Punjab and Haryana High Court orders rethink on new building site

“Access to village Sarangpur is restricted and often blocked by the traffic congestion at PGIMER square,” the bench observed while issuing fresh directions to the UT administration.

The court’s remarks come amid multiple pending issues regarding the high court’s infrastructure, including delays in parking landscaping, furnishing of the administrative building in Sector 17, and the verandah in front of Court Room No. 1.

On the Sector-17 premises, where the administrative branches of the high court are to be shifted, the court recorded the assurance given by the senior standing counsel for the UT administration that “furnishing work of four floors of the said building including basement shall be completed and the same shall be handed over to the High Court”. Based on this, the court said it was refraining from passing any direction on that point for now.

On the matter of kutcha parking, the counsel submitted that revised landscaping drawings were being finalised and would be submitted to the high court within a week. The bench directed that the drawings be filed before the building committee and requested that the committee consider the Bar’s suggestions and approve the drawings as expeditiously as possible.

Regarding the construction of a verandah in front of Court Room No.1, the UT administration filed an application (CM No. 158-CWPIL-2025) seeking more time to complete the work. The court was informed that revised drawings had been finalised and that the construction would be completed by August 25, 2025. Recording the assurance, the court disposed of the application without issuing further directions.

The case will now be taken up again on August 1.

The PIL and related matters concern various infrastructure and administrative issues concerning the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which have seen sustained litigation and multiple compliance hearings over the past several years.