Dehradun, Aug. 7 -- The Uttarakhand cabinet on Friday approved the transfer of 38-hectares of forest land at Lamachaur in Haldwani for the proposed new Uttarakhand high court complex.

The Supreme Court directed the state government to transfer the identified land within six weeks while hearing a petition filed by the High Court Bar Association last month. The petition challenged a May 8, 2024 order of the Uttarakhand high court directing a referendum among lawyers on shifting the court from its present Mallital campus to Haldwani.

The high court currently functions from a heritage building constructed in 1900 that cannot be renovated. The number of pending cases has risen sharply from 356 when the state was created in 2000 to 61,859 as ...