Declare Saddar Court protected monument, HC directs J&K Govt

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 20

The High Court has directed the J&K Government to preserve and declare the Saddar Court complex located in the Lal Chowk area as a protected monument within three months.

These orders were passed by a Division Bench of the J&K High Court comprising Chief Justice NN Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice DS Thakur in a public interest litigation by the Kashmir High Court Bar Association which had prayed for declaring and preserving the Saddar Court complex as a protected monument under the J&K Ancient Monuments Preservation Act.

It is from the Saddar Court complex that the J&K High Court was started in 1912 during the Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule and continued to function from there till 1987, when it was shifted to the new court building, Registrar Judicial, J&K High Court, Kaneez Fatima submitted in her reply to the court.

It was here that eminent jurists and lawyers of the sub-continent like Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who founded Pakistan, and former Attorney General VK Krishna Menon, who defended Indian stand over Kashmir at UN in his famous seven-hour-long speech, appeared as lawyers in different cases before the High Court.

“The history of the institution of judiciary is inscribed on each and every stone and brick of this building, which necessitates preserving this important heritage of the state so that our future generation can have the knowledge about our rich past,” the High Court said in its reply filed through the Registrar Judicial today.

Earlier, the J&K Government in its reply to the High Court had said it had already initiated the process of declaring the Saddar Court complex, Srinagar, as a protected monument and has sought comments from the High Court before the Tourism and Culture Department takes further steps for the preservation and protection of the proposed site.

High Court started in 1911

“The evolution of the present judicial system in the state of J&K started from the Old High Court Building (Saddar Court complex) situated at Lal Chowk, Srinagar, when it was opened on 26th Sawan, 1969 Samvat (1911AD). The High Court, Srinagar wing, was shifted from the ancient building of Maharaja at Lal Chowk to the present building in 1987,” the Registrar Judicial submitted in her reply to the court, adding that it was till September 2014 floods that the lower courts also functioned from the same spot before these were relocated to a new premises.

Ex-SC Chief Justices, judges worked at Saddar

“The historical building of the high court is witness to the wit of famous advocates like Mirza Afzal Beigh, Piyare Lal Handoo, DD Thakur, Muzaffar Husssan Beigh and others…. The legendary High Court judges who got elevated to Supreme Court before working in this historical building include Justice Murtaza Fazal Ali, Justice Raja Jaswant Singh, Justice AS Anand, Justice TS Thakur and Justice RP Sethi,” the Registrar Judicial said.