Mumbai: Part of the ceiling plaster in Courtroom 15 at the Sewri sessions court came off on Monday evening, even as a few court staff and advocates were in the room for a farewell function. Fortunately, they escaped unhurt.
Advocate Amol Waje, secretary of the Mazagaon Court Bar Association, was among the five people present in the room at the time. He said they were lucky to escape unscathed, as someone could have easily lost their life. The advocates said this was the third such incident in as many months.
Mr. Waje said, “I was in the room as I had to file a pending bail application. We then remained in the room as a send-off was planned for metropolitan magistrate Sonali Agarwal, who has been transferred to Nagpur. Around 4 p.m., when we were having tea, I noticed a few dust particles falling of the ceiling, in the teacup of the man opposite me. We moved aside to the corner of the room, and the very next moment, the plaster came crashing down.”
Dilapidated building
Advocate Prasad Panchal, president of the Mazagaon Court Bar Association, said this is the third such incident in almost three months. “A running fan fell in Room 70, and the blades just missed a man. About two months ago, the plaster fell off on the dais of the court, and now this. Luckily, no casualties reported.”
Built in 1954, the building was acquired by the Bombay High Court from a chemical factory in 2003. The Sewri fast-track sessions court was shifted to Kala Ghoda after it merged with the session’s court. The Mazagaon court was then transferred to Sewri in 2013, as the building in Mazagaon was declared dilapidated.
Mr. Panchal said the Public Works Department (PWD) had told them the Mazagaon court building would be ready by 2020. “But I do not think it is possible, as the construction work hasn’t begun. This approach of PWD and the government, is going to ruin us. The building is old, with leaks and cracks developing, and we cannot predict what will happen in the next moment,” he said.
He added that Courtroom 15 was completely renovated and plastered just a year-and-a-half ago, terming the ceiling collapse a result of “corrupt malpractice”.
The bar association members said they would file an FIR against the PWD and approach the High Court if needed. “On previous occasions, too, we have written to PWD to look into the matter, but they have been lethargic about the whole issue. The High Court has opened a PWD office in the building, but nothing has being done,” members said.
