Patna High Court building glows with pride at 100

Patna

Built in a neo-classical style based on a Palladian design, the grand building was formally inaugurated in an impressive ceremony on February 3, 1916 by Viceroy Lord Charles Hardinge, who had also laid the foundation stone of this August institution on December 1, 1913.

"...the financial situation resulting from the war has made it necessary largely to reduce the expenditure on our new capital; and the construction of the Secretariat and other buildings has been in consequence been postponed or retarded.

"But, it was recognised that whatever else might suffer, nothing should be allowed to delay the establishment of the Provincial High Court. The construction of the building was therefore pushed on with utmost expedition....," said Sir Edward Gait, the then Lt Governor of Bihar and Orissa in his speech on the occasion.

Incidentally, Lord Hardinge had played an instrumental role in creation of the province of Bihar and Orissa carved out of Bengal, with Patna as the new capital, the announcement for which was made in the 1911 Delhi Durbar by King George V.

The site for the new capital, christened the New Capital Area (informally New Patna) was chosen just west of the Bankipore railway station (old Patna station) and the new area was laid out in a planned manner by its chief architect J F Munnings, whose other grand contributions to the architectural fabric of the city include the Government House and the Secretariat.

In laying out the court on the historic Bailey Road, Munnings was assisted by A M Millwood, and the two architects gave birth to an iconic landmark that has practically remained unchanged in these 100 years, weathering floods, several quakes including the killer 1934 temblor.

The two-storeyed building is spread out in a U-shape and has a pedimented portico behind which rises a high dome over the central hall of the imposing structure.
    
"The British Government, even under the distractions of this troubled time (First World War), pursued with unfailing vigour the aim which it has always proposed to itself as one of the fundamental objects of all good government – the desire to facilitate the administration of justice to all its subjects," Lord Hardinge said in his inauguration speech.

Constructed by Calcutta's Martin & Co., the Viceroy was presented an ornate ceremonial "key to the Patna High Court" by the company on the occasion as a symbolic way of opening the court.

Soon after the building's opening, a Letters Patent was issued by King George V on February 9, 1916 constituting the High Court of Judicature at Patna. The formal session of the High Court began with its first sitting on March 1 the same year.

The first judges of the Patna High Court were Chief Justice Edward Maynard Des Champ Chamier and six other puisne judges including three Indians -- Justice Saiyid Shurfuddin, Justice Basant Kumar Mallick and Justice Jwala Prasad.

Former judge of Patna High Court and author of 'Patna High Court: A Century of Glory' justice (retd) SK Katriar says, "Both foundation-laying and opening ceremonies of the court were grand. And, Lord Hardinge possibly became the first Viceroy to participate in both functions."

And, grand occasions they were indeed as the Viceroy arrived in Bankipore (Patna's civil station) in a special train and later visited the function site in a ceremonial procession escorted by Behar Light Horse volunteers.

Old pictures archived at the court museum shows the chosen site was surrounded with tall palm trees when the construction began. Some of those trees can still be seen around the periphery of the building, which is considered till date a celebrated work of architecture, and now a veritable city landmark, with Patna Women's College's equally beautiful building right opposite to it, complementing its look.

The main building with its red-coloured mansard roof punctured by dormer window is now basking in the glory of its 100 years, standing tall as a magnificent symbol of dispensing impartial justice in the province which has been through easy times and turbulent times including the country's partition and the Emergency era.

The court's main building houses the grand Marble Hall, one of the high-points of its architecture, while the wrought-ironwork on its main entrance (for judges) to the lobby and the British-era lifts add to the old-world charm.

The court along with the equally grand Government House and the Secretariat with an imposing clocktower on top, the three buildings constitute the 'grand three' of the architectural fabric of the New Capital Area of Patna.

But, the High Court perhaps remains the most visible icons of them all, owing to its location right on the Bailey Road.

The Patna High Court soon will also get an annexe building, christened 'Shatabdi Bahwan', being built on what was earlier the court's eastern lawns, to meet its growing needs, the foundation stone for which was laid on February 5, 2014.

The building was initially scheduled to be completed by tomorrow, but work is still going on.

Orissa became a separate province in 1936 though Patna High Court, the fifth oldest in the country continued to exercise jurisdiction over the state till 1948, when its permanent bench at Cuttack was raised to the position of Orissa High Court.

The Ranchi Bench was elevated to Jharkhand High Court after it separated from Bihar in 2000. Thus spanning these 100 years, the flag flying over the Patna High Court has changed from the Union Jack to the tricolor, and the British coat of arms on its facade has been replaced by Sarnath's Lions, but its glory remains undiminished.