Contrast is too visible to be missed.

When President Draupadi Murmu will inaugurate the new building of Jharkhand High Court in Dhurwa, Ranchi in the presence of Supreme Court Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and others on May 24, 2023, approved files of the finance department of the government of Jharkhand show total sums spent on its construction exceeds Rs 600 crore.

Over a decade ago on February 9, 2013, when the foundation stone of this new building of Jharkhand High Court was laid by the then Governor Dr. Syed Ahmed in the presence of Supreme Court Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, the government of Jharkhand had allotted a sum of Rs 264 crore for construction of this new building of the Jharkhand High Court.

Subsequently, a tender was floated and Ram Kripal Singh Construction Private Ltd. was selected to construct this building. Now, when the official records show, two more construction companies - Heighten Construction and Rajveer Construction Private Ltd -were involved in the construction of this new Jharkhand High Court building at a cost of around Rs 129 crore and Rs 108 crore respectively.

Asked why Ram Kripal Construction Private Ltd. did not complete the project, the reply from a senior finance department officer on condition of anonymity said, “ Due to verbal orders of honourable Judges to add this and add that during the construction period, the cost skyrocketed. This made RKS( Ram Kripal Construction) to stop work.”

As a result, two more contractors were allocated work resulting in the total outlay going above Rs 600 crore.

*Note: Two more special stories on the new Jharkhand High Court building structure are in the pipeline.