PANAJI: After more than two decades of functioning from the Lyceum complex at Altinho in the state capital, the high court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday will begin proceedings full-fledged at its brand new state-of-the-art building atPorvorim.
It is the first time after Covid-19 struck that the high court will go offline and return to purely physical hearings.
Earlier this year, the court tried the hybrid system- video conferencing and then moved to only video conferencing.
The chief justices of the high court of Bombay at Goa, Goa governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, chief minister Pramod Sawant and other dignitaries will participate in a small formal ceremony before hearings begin at the new premises on Tuesday.
A grand inaugural of the new building was held on March 27 in the presence of then Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, present Chief Justice N V Ramana, Union minister for law and justice Ravi Shankar Prasad and several judges of the Supreme Court and the Bombay high court and its various benches.
The division bench comprising chief justice of the Bombay high court Dipankar Datta and Justice Mahesh Sonak will hear the very first cases in the new building on Tuesday morning.
The two single benches will be presided over by Justice Sunil P Deshmukh and Justice M S Jawalkar.
The new high court building overlooking the Mandovi is said to be designed according to sustainable principles and is accessible for senior citizens and persons with disability with ramps, broad corridors, wide doors, elevators and washrooms that can all accommodate wheelchair users, tactile signage and safe parking spaces with easy access to the building.
Special rooms for senior citizens and a creche for children are other facilities in the building
“The shifting is complete and the Lyceum building has been vacated. The high court and all its offices will function from the new building from Tuesday, an official said.
“The district courts will be shifting to the Lyceum complex and are likely to start functioning from there from September,” the official added.
