A bulldozer razes an unauthorised encroachment on the district and sessions court premises in Bhubaneswar on Monday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 18: A joint eviction team today conducted an anti-encroachment drive on the premises of district and sessions court, Khurda, here to set up a judicial complex.

Over 70 makeshift structures, along with three religious ones, on the court premises were demolished. Though there was a minor opposition from a section of lawyers, stamp vendors, whose sheds were demolished, and shopkeepers, they unconditionally withdrew their protest after knowing about the drive’s purpose.

An official of the demolition team said the court registrar had requisitioned them to conduct the drive. “Most of the space was covered with shanties, which were demolished. Two temples in one corner were also razed. Besides, there were thatched structures being used as hotels,” said enforcement officer of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority Deba Prasad Dash.

On January 25, chief minister Naveen Patnaik, in presence of the then Chief Justice of Orissa High Court, A.K. Goel, and Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Pattnaik, laid the foundation stone of the complex. Though the work was supposed to be over within a year, it is yet to begin even seven months after the ceremony.

Sources said the court complex would come up on 7.4 acres. It is estimated to cost Rs 113 crore, of which Rs 50 crore have been sanctioned in the first phase.

The 20 courts functioning on the premises would function from the new complex, which will accommodate more than 50 courts.

The complex will have four multi-storey buildings in two sections. While one section with an 11-storey and a five-storey buildings will house revenue courts, the other with a nine-storey and a seven-storey buildings will be used for judicial purposes.

According to the office-bearers of the Bhubaneswar Bar Association, while the ground floor will have the parking lot for judges, judicial employees, advocates, litigants, police vans, the first floor would have an office, a conference hall and a library for the bar association. The courts will be located on other floors.

“We will fence the encroachment-free land, so that no further encroachment can occur. The work will begin once the architectural plan is confirmed,” said an official of the road and buildings department.