LAHORE, May 1: The Lahore High Court administration has withheld funds for the construction of a judicial complex after refusal of the Punjab Printing Press to hand over its land for the purpose.

According to a 1998 agreement, the printing press was to relinquish its over 98 kanals for the judicial complex in exchange of the sessions court premises.

Sources told Dawn on Thursday that the LHC administration has withheld the Rs80 million funds for the construction of the complex owing to the non-implementation of the agreement for the acquisition of land.

At present, the LHC’s administration and the office of Lahore District and Sessions Judge are working on the proposal to renovate the eight courtrooms lying vacant at the sessions court premises, sources said.

The renovated courtrooms would be given to the additional district and sessions judges, now sitting at Aiwan-i-Adl.

The construction of the Lahore District and Sessions Judge office at the Punjab Printing Press site has also been held up. The project was to be completed with an estimated cost of Rs10.10 million.

Sources ruled out the possibility to construct the complex at the sessions court site. “The expenses to demolish the existing courtrooms would increase the project cost manifold, making the execution of the plan more difficult.”

The Lahore Bar Association has already disapproved the proposal to renovate vacant courtrooms at the sessions court. It demanded shifting of all subordinate courts to the district courts building and the portions occupied by the city district government.

LBA president Mansoorur Rahman Khan Afridi had said that if the subordinate courts were not shifted to district court building by April 30, a protest campaign would be launched.

The judicial complex project was initially proposed by the federal government in 1994. The complex comprising 100 courtrooms and chambers for lawyers was to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs80 million at 33 kanals of the sessions court after the demolition of courtrooms.

The ground breaking ceremony was held on Jan 10, 1995, after which the foundation stone of the project was laid down at the sessions court. Later, the blue print of the project was also approved by the Planning & Development department. However, the construction work could not begin for some unknown reasons.

The LHC’s administration proposed in 1988 that the complex should be constructed at the adjacent Punjab Printing Press land, measuring over 98 kanals, and the sessions court building should be handed over to the press in exchange of its premises. As initially agreed by the parties, eight courtrooms at the sessions court premises were handed over to the printing press to mark the beginning of handing over process.

However, the printing press management did not relinquish any part of its land for the judicial complex till 2000. The then head of building committee Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday and Lahore Bar Association president Javed Iqbal Raja, however, acquired 10 rooms of the printing press after negotiations.

The then chief justice of the LHC had also sanctioned Rs500,000 for the renovation of courtrooms at the printing press premises. Eight AD&SJs started sitting in the newly-acquired courtrooms while a final review of the plan for the construction of the judicial complex was also made.

The Asian Development Bank sanctioned US $3.5 million grant to the provincial law department for the uplift of the subordinate judiciary in 2001. The judicial complex project was to be funded out of the grants from the ADB and the federal government.

The printing press did not relinquish its land and the project funding was withheld.