GUWAHATI, Jan. 12 -- Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday said that the law must never appear remote, forbidding or out of reach while laying emphasis on integrated court complexes with adequate space for young lawyers. The CJI made the remarks in Guwahati while laying the foundation stone of an integrated judicial complex where the Gauhati high court will be relocated. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, several judges of the apex court, chief justices of the high courts of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura, and Union minister for law and justice Arjun Ram Meghwal were present. "The foundation stone laying ceremony represents far more than commencement of a project. It is the reaffirmation of the constitutional guarantee that the law must never appear remote, forbidding or out of reach," CJI Kant said. Besides Assam, the Gauhati HC caters to Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram as well. The new integrated high court complex, which will have 31 court rooms, will be built at a cost of Rs.479 crore in the first phase. A judicial township that will include a district court complex with 65 court rooms will be constructed near the high court at a later stage, at a cost of another Rs.1,227 crore. The entire complex would span an area of 128 bighas (over 42 acres) Once it's completed, the high court will be relocated from its present location at Uzanbazar in the heart of Guwahati to Rangmahal in North Guwahati, across the Brahmaputra river. "Integration (of a judicial complex) is not just an architectural concept, it is how the system works as a whole...As the head of the Indian judiciary, my priority is to the development of future infrastructure that empowers those (lawyers) who are yet to find their footing rather than catering to those who have already reaped the full harvest of this profession," the CJI said. More than 1,300 lawyers associated with the Gauhati High Court Bar Association (GHCBA) have been opposing the relocation and even staged a hunger strike against setting up of the new complex around 12-15 km away from the present site. Members of the association said they opposed the proposal since it was announced a year-and-a-half ago, arguing that the relocation will severely affect access to justice for thousands of litigants across the region. Senior lawyers said the proposed shift to Rangmahal would impose an additional travel requirement of 10-15 km, adding logistical burdens on litigants, many of whom come from remote districts of Assam and from neighbouring states "I was surprised when it was brought to my notice that some members of the bar association are opposed to the new complex. I believe either they are ill infirmed or unfortunately they are not realising the need and the necessity for the young members of the bar and those who are in queue to join the profession," CJI Kant said. "I hope and firmly believe that each one of them will realise that the personal vested interests only because you might be having a good office near the old complex should not be valid or justified ground to hamper the development of a modern day infrastructure which has completely futuristic approach," he added. The CJI appealed to the state government and the chief justice of the Gauhati HC to ensure that every young lawyer, irrespective of socio-economic background or professional seniority, be provided space in the new complex to practice their profession....