Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice Abhay Oka of Supreme Court said on Saturday that Goa can become a hub for international arbitration. They were speaking at the inauguration of the new North Goa district and sessions court complex at Merces.
The CJI said a large number of Indian companies are moving to the Dubai Financial Centre and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. “Why is it that our own companies are moving outside India? Because we have not created good spaces for them. I do believe that Goa, with its global image, can truly become a global financial centre,” the CJI said.
He requested the CM to use the old high court complex as an academy to train not just judges but also civil service officers, police officers, and others who render service within the state of Goa.
Oka said that the old high court building has sentimental value for everybody connected with the judiciary. He also requested the CM and law minister to extend a helping hand to the high court administration to set up a modern judicial academy and an arbitration and mediation centre in the old high court complex. He added that some of the court halls he had seen in the new court complex at Merces are far better than those in the Supreme Court.
He said that every state in India except Goa has a state judicial academy, as a result of which judicial officers have to travel 650km for training to Maharashtra. “It’s high time that Goa must get its own judicial academy,” he said.
“By making suitable changes and maintaining its heritage status, we can have a very state-of-the-art modern judicial academy, which can also become a centre for conducting activities of the National Judicial Academy, which can cater to the needs of govt also,” he added.
CM Pramod Sawant said that the state-of-the-art district and sessions court complex is a milestone in judicial infrastructure development. Incidentally, the CJI’s late father, former CJI Y V Chandrachud, inaugurated the high court of Bombay at Goa at the old building in Oct 1982, said Bombay HC chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya.
The new technologically-advanced stilt plus five-storeyed building comprises virtual courtrooms with digital facilities accessible for persons with disabilities. Its environment-friendly design allows wastewater to be recycled at the sewage treatment plant to be reused in the garden and cisterns.
The plot, 20,091sqm, was acquired by state govt in 2009, and the foundation for the complex was laid in Sep 2011. Construction work began in 2016 and was delayed due to the pandemic.
