Assam is set to build a Rs 478.78-crore judicial hub in North Guwahati, with the Cabinet clearing the first phase of a state-of-the-art township that will house the new Gauhati High Court complex, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.
The judicial township, to come up over 100 bighas at Rangmahal, will be developed in three phases by the Public Works Department and is designed to serve as the State’s “apex judicial hub”. “It will include a High Court building, a Bar building, and an office building, all interconnected through bridges. We are hopeful that we will invite the Chief Justice of India in January 2026 to lay the foundation of the new building,” Sarma said after the Cabinet meeting.
The upcoming Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, who will assume office on November 24, 2025, is expected to preside over the foundation-laying ceremony. The new High Court complex will have space for 31 judges, while a dedicated six-storey building will be allotted for advocates.
Sarma said the township will be connected through two access roads, including a new four-lane corridor to be built from the new Brahmaputra bridge. Once operational, the complex is expected to ease congestion at the present High Court premises in Dighalipukhuri.
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On the future of the current building, Sarma said the government intends to “put the historic structure to good use”. “We can develop a judicial museum and an international arbitration centre at Latasil. The existing library can be turned into a full-fledged legal library building,” he said.
The Cabinet also approved the Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025, which will be tabled in the Assembly session beginning on 25 November. The Bill proposes imprisonment of up to seven years for individuals contracting a second or subsequent marriage while their first remains valid. The offence will be non-cognisable and non-bailable. “There is also a provision to compensate women victims in the Bill,” Sarma said.
The law will not apply to Scheduled Tribe communities or Sixth Schedule areas such as the Bodoland Territorial Region, Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong. “It will apply to everyone except tribal people. Minority Muslims residing in Sixth Schedule areas before 2005 will also be exempted,” he said. Sarma added that the legislation will not have retrospective effect: “Cases registered prior to the date of application under the Bill will not come under its ambit.”
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