Chandigarh, Dec. 11 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Chandigarh Administration to award design work of new high court block on a 11 lakh square feet area on the same premises to a Noida-based consultant without adhering to the mandatory bidding process followed under normal circumstances. "This court, in view of the constraints of shortage of space being faced by this court, is of the view that for executing the modified holistic plan, special circumstances exist of critical shortage of space available for this high court for adopting the single source selection for selecting a particular consultant, where sufficient justification is available," the bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry observed while directing the administration to award work to the consultant whose name was discussed and finalised during the proceedings of the committee set up by the Punjab and Haryana high court to find solution to space woes at high court complex. As per Government of India guidelines, projects worth lakhs are mandatorily to be awarded with bidding process. If bids were invited, up to two months' time would have been consumed. But execution of the project is being expedited so that design finalised is submitted before the competent body for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for its clearance before December 31, which is stated to be the last date for the projects to be considered during next year by the international body. The court invoked Manual for Procurement of Consultancy Services (Second Edition, 2025) issued by department of expenditure, ministry of finance, Government of India. As per Clause 4.2.4 of the manual, the procedure is laid down for direct selection (single source selection) for bidding design for consultancy services. Direct selection is allowed in the case of continuation of previous work, in case of an emergency situation, situations arising after natural disasters, situations where timely completion of the assignment is of utmost importance, etc. The court noted that the holistic plan was conceived in 2014 and the DPR approved by the building committee in 2020. However, the process was stalled due to the heritage status of the high court complex. "This court has been facing extreme shortage of space since last about three decades, and despite the increase in sanctioned strength of the high court judges from 40 (in 1993), to 53 (in 2004), to 68 (in 2007) and finally to 85 (in 2014), as against pendency figures rising from 96,394 (in 1993) to 2,49,623 (in 2004), to 2,42,268 (in 2007), to 2,62,760 (in 2014) and finally to 4,12,735 (in 2015), infrastructural requirement of HC for accommodating the branches of the registry and members of the Bar, continue to remain unchanged," the bench observed issuing directions that in view of "the special circumstances, "the most suitable" consultant recommended by judges led committee be appointed for the purpose. The high court bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry was hearing a 2023 PIL by HC employees association secretary Vinod Dhatterwal, seeking the implementation of a holistic development plan, which envisages the setting up of multi-storey buildings to cater to requirement of additional space. As reported on November 22, a high court-appointed committee, with two judges, has recommended the construction of four new blocks with 30-35 more court rooms on a 11.42 lakh square-feet area behind the heritage building designed by Le Corbusier, and an additional parking capacity on 11.17 lakh square feet at the Capitol Complex. The project needs clearance from UNESCO as the HC is part of the Capitol Complex, which was declared a world heritage site in 2016. During the proceedings of the PIL, it was the Bar body, which suggested that design work of the new complex be handed over to the consultant recommended by the committee as there was a very small window to get UNESCO clearance. It needs to be submitted by December end, if expansion work is to start next year. UT during the hearing had suggested that the proposal was required to be prepared by the high court administration and UT's role will come into play only at the time of the heritage conservation committee considering the project....