HC suo-motu treats ‘The Hitavada’ report as PIL: Collapse of old HC building porch

Debris of the collapsed porch of Old High Court building.

Staff Reporter :

Taking a serious cognisance of the collapse of one of the three porches of Old High Court (HC) Building, the city’s first National Heritage Monument, Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has suo-motu treated ‘The Hitavada’ report as Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Justice Nitin Sambre, while treating ‘The Hitavada’ report dated April 12 as PIL, issued notice to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State Public Works Department (PWD), District Collector, and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), and sought their reply by June 8. The old High Court building could be saved due to yet another report published by ‘The Hitavada’ decade ago. It, too, was treated as PIL by the High Court.

Though the ASI top brass was earlier indifferent to conserving this iconic building, the High Court periodically passed several directions to the ASI after which it was declared as a national monument. The building was already part of city’s notified heritage structure and was accorded Grade-I status. The report had exposed the shocking apathy of ASI’s Nagpur Circle authorities in ensuring proper upkeep of this iconic building and premises.

The ancient architectural marvel had three porches and the rear porch facing the old National Fire Service College, which was in a dilapidated condition, caved in on Saturday (April 11, 2020). The conservation work of the 129-year-old heritage structure had started after it was declared as the first Centrally protected monument in Nagpur on March 28, 2018 by Union Ministry of Culture. The Ministry had taken almost two decades to declare it as a National Heritage Monument, which now figures in the list of more than 3,650 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance across the country. After the notification declaring the Old High Court Building as the Centrally protected monument, the Government had also sanctioned funds for the conservation work.Even after the financial estimates for the project were approved by authorities, the conservation work was hampered due to administrative apathy of ASI Nagpur Circle.

Old HC building: An architectural marvel Constructed in 1891-93 in Nagpur, the then capital of Central Provinces & Berar to house Judicial Commissioner’s Office, the building is situated on 18,228 sq mtr land. The Government decided to house the High Court in the building after Judicial Commissioner’s Office came to an end in 1936. In 1940, the High Court moved to its new stone building and this monument came to be known as Old High Court building. The two-storeyed structure built of bricks, stones, teak and Burmese wood representing Anglo-Indian or colonial architecture has thick brick walls with an arcade, verandah, arched wooden doors and Doric columns.