Michael F. Saldanha, a former judge of the High Courts of Karnataka and Bombay, has opposed the State government’s proposal to build a seven-storied building for the High Court of Karnataka by demolishing an old structure, which is surrounded by Cubbon Park and had housed the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka earlier.
In an open letter addressed to the Chief Minister and Chief Justice of the High Court, Mr. Saldanha said that as a judge, he had “worked ceaselessly to preserve this park” and had passed several orders against use of Cubbon Park for political demonstrations.
Claiming that a annexe building of the HC constructed in the early ’90s was termed sufficient to take care of workspace for the next 60 years, he urged the High Court authorities to conduct an audit of workspace by skilled professionals. If the need for additional workspace still emerges in the audit, then the matter can be reconsidered, Mr. Saldanha said. while expressing confidence that need of additional workspace may not arise after the audit. “During my tenure as a judge I recall that huge areas in the building were either unutilised or underutilised...,” he claimed.
