As for the separate high court, the process to for it was initiated on March 14, 2002 by the erstwhile INLD government. The election of Union Law Minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana had rekindled the hopes of the Hooda government of getting a separate HC, especially after Bhardwaj, too, appeared very keen.

Bhardwaj had hinted that the high court may provided in the existing premises of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He had also sought certain information, vide his letter dated May 26, 2006, pertaining to the site and time-frame for setting up of the high court.

Hooda, in his letter dated July 12, 2006, told the minister that there was no legal hitch in setting up of a separate high court for Haryana in Chandigarh as the state legislature is located here.

Countering the minister’s suggestion that the high court of Haryana could be located in the state, Hooda said that the same logic should then be applied to Punjab. “There is no legal hitch in bifurcating the assembly and secretariat buildings. The only requirement is to suitably amend the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966,” he said.

Following this, there has been a string of correspondence from the state but the Centre seems to have put the issue on the backburner.