Amidst an ongoing row over the proposed relocation of the Gauhati High Court, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was a practising lawyer before being first elected to the Assam legislative assembly in 2001, submitted his resignation from the Gauhati High Court Bar Association, which has been opposing the move. In a letter addressed to bar association president K N Choudhury Wednesday, Sarma had cited “conflict of interest” and that his decision to resign is in “the larger interest of judicial reform” and “institutional growth.” The Gauhati High Court Bar Association has been opposing the state government’s project to relocate the High Court from its current location in the heart of the city to Rangmahal in North Guwahati, located across the Brahmaputra river citing its distance, saying that it will be hard to access for both lawyers and members of the public. This has come to a boil in the past month with a major protest by the bar association on March 24 following which the Gauhati High Court issued a rare press statement condemning statements made by some members of the bar against some sitting judges during the protest and the Advocate General Devajit Saikia filing a contempt of court petition against three members including Kamal Nayan Choudhury, the president of the bar association. Story continues below this ad In his resignation letter, Sarma claimed that the relocation and creation of a “Judicial Township” at the site was in line a recommendation made by a Full Court meeting of the Gauhati High Court in October 2023 and that it is required citing “no scope for further expansion” in the current premises, inadequate parking space, shortage of official residences for judges in the city, and lack of facilities. He also sought to refute allegations of personal vested interest tied to the proposed relocation. “I have come across opinions by (a) few senior members of the Bar in media that shifting of the High Court to Rang Mahal, North Guwahati would give political benefit to me as it comes under Jalukbari Legislative Constituency, which I represent in the State Assembly. In this regard, I would like to say that selection of Rang Mahal as proposed site is not my decision but as per the recommendation of the High Powered Committee with approval of the Full Court of Gauhati High Court, and, most importantly, after the Delimitation exercise conducted in 2023, Rangmahal as well as North Guwahati no more come under Jalukbari LAC… Moreover, with the upcoming Ring Road and Narengi-Kurua Bridge Project over Brahmaputra, the whole of Rang Mahal, North Guwahati will become heart and centre of Guwahati City within 4/5 years,” he has written. Bar association president K N Choudhury said that the letter will be placed before a meeting of the body’s executive committee, convened Thursday. Story continues below this ad “We will go by whatever the executive decides on the matter. On a personal note, while acknowledging the receipt of the resignation letter I have asked him to reconsider this decision,” he said. “Nobody is opposing the holistic view of the government but there is no earth shattering urgency in this matter that it has to be rushed through immediately. What we are saying is please take us into confidence in this issue as stakeholders in the justice delivery system”.