KHCAA Opposes Kerala High Court Relocation to Kalamassery: Full Court Backing Missing, Real Estate Lobby Involved

The Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA) has written a letter to the Chief Justice of the High Court, clearly communicating its opposition to the establishment of the Judicial City at Kalamassery. The Association stated in the letter that the move would severely dent the reputation of the High Court of Kerala in the eyes of the people.

The Association has pointed out that an IA filed by the State in the Supreme Court in relation to land required for the proposed judicial city showed that the Full Court had deferred the discussion on the Judicial City until the land was free of litigation. The letter emphasizes that the proposal to move the High Court lacks the backing of the Full Court and appears to have involved only a handful of Judges.

The KHCAA also signals towards the definitive involvement of the Real Estate Lobby, stating that inadequate parking space cannot be a valid reason to shift the entire High Court to another place. In 2024, the KHCAA passed a resolution opposing any move to shift the High Court of Kerala to Kalamassery. The Association expressed shock upon learning about an application filed by the State before the Supreme Court seeking possession of 27 acres of HMT land to shift the Judicial Wing of the High Court to the Judicial city as a first phase of the project.

During its Annual General Body meeting on November 27, 2025, the KHCAA passed a resolution to enable the Association to intervene in the matter before the Supreme Court to oppose the relocation of the High Court of Kerala to the proposed 'Judicial City'. The President of the Association, Yeshwanth Shenoy, had earlier objected to the decision on the relocation of the Kerala High Court complex.

Some of the reasons for opposing the shift include the fact that the High Court building is less than 20 years old, and no High Court in the country has been rebuilt within such a short span. The letter reads, “This need for more space will raise serious questions on inadequate planning and spending of State funds without proper planning.”

The Association further wrote, “How can we justify building a new High Court within 20 years of constructing the present building when the infrastructure of the District Judiciary has been deprived of any developments for all these years? How can the State say that it has no funds for the District Judiciary but can afford to develop 'Judicial City' by discarding buildings which are less than 20 years old?”

The KHCAA highlighted the adequate space available in the High Court building and the availability of adequate land around the Court. The Association also brought to the Chief Justice’s notice the continuing expenditure on infrastructure around the present High Court Building. These include the State-sanctioned Rs 11.464 crore for constructing the building for the Directorate for Prosecution, as well as another State-sanctioned amount of over Rs 1 crore for the construction of truss work over the court hall of the Chief Justice.

The Association further explained how discarding the present infrastructure would cost a heavy amount of public money. The letter mentioned that any plan to shift the High Court to the proposed Judicial city will require massive investment to develop public infrastructure alone, and the state, which is near bankruptcy, is unlikely to make such a huge investment.

The letter read, “The members of the Bar have been kept away from all discussions and decisions and this means the Bar will not be able to justify the act of relocating the High Court within 20 years of being operational in a new building. When 'administration of Justice' is a cart of which the Bar and the Bench are the two wheels, we must emphasize that the cart will go to the Judicial city only on one wheel.”