Perils faced by lawyers, litigants in dilapidated Mulund, Vikhroli courts

Mouldy and crumbling ceilings, poor infra for women and lack of sanitation make working in the courts a challenge

MUMBAI: While Mumbai is shining with new projects taking off to ease citizens’ lives, basic infrastructure of two metropolitan magistrate courts – Mulund and Vikhroli -- remain severely compromised. The court at Mulund, for instance, operates from the dangerously dilapidated Topiwala Building while the Vikhroli court functions out of space-jammed two floors inside an old and unclean dimly-lit shopping complex.

A government employee working in the building said that in August 2021 the ceiling in the passage of the tehsildar’s office had collapsed.

Mulund Court

Earlier this month, the Bombay high court (HC) sought the state government’s response to a public interest litigation (PIL) that highlighted the dilapidated condition of the building in Mulund that houses two metropolitan magistrate courts. “We are in 2024. What do you want? Your own technical report has said the building is dilapidated. Every day ceilings are falling,” the bench of chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and justice Arif Doctor said criticising the government for its apathy towards court infrastructure.

The petition filed by advocate Santosh Dubey in December 2023, underscored the 2017 structural audit report of the building, constructed in 1945, indicating that it needed immediate strengthening and was deemed “techno economically unfeasible” for further use. It added that that life and limbs of hundreds of government employees, visitors, advocates, court staff and litigants, including the present petitioner were at great risk. The building houses 12 government offices, including one of the tehsildar.

The petitioner highlighted instances of the ceiling collapsing in various parts of the building and that “during the monsoon season, it becomes a ‘mini Lonavala’”. “With water dripping from every corner, there have been many instances of parts of the ceiling collapsing,” said Dubey.

A government employee working in the building said that in August 2021 the ceiling in the passage of the tehsildar’s office had collapsed, while in another horrific incident, the former tehsildar had narrowly escaped being hurt. “I was on the first floor of the tehsildar office and saw the ceiling falling right on the tehsildar’s table. Had he been leaning on his table, he would have suffered a head injury,” the employee said.

Exasperated senior advocate Ashok Kumar, who has been pursuing the issue for over 25 years, said, “People get justice from court, but the place that gives justice should be in a decent shape. The entire area spans over 10 acres, and yet hardly an acre has been built. Our meetings with officers of several ministries and elected representatives have not borne fruit.”

Another advocate added much of the area has been encroached by upon builders and local goons, which is ironical as those sitting inside the building act against encroachments.

Based on information received through RTI, Dubey also highlighted how the two courts were understaffed and that there was a dire need to increase the number of judges to alleviate their burden. “More than 22,000 cases are pending before the two magistrate courts. Ideally, only 600 cases should be presented before one court. By that logic, we are short of at least another 20 courts here,” Dubey said, adding this was the reason for pendency and not the complexity of cases.

Vikhroli Court

The Vikhroli court’s challenges are evidenced in its limited space and lack of basic amenities, apart from mouldy ceilings. The Vikhroli metropolitan magistrate court functions out of two floors in a shopping complex. The senior advocates are often seen stooping in the narrow passage to retrieve documents from their lockers, blocking others’ paths, causing embarrassment to both parties.

Advocates told HT the court’s passage resembles a local train compartment in rush hour, with litigants, advocates and others dashing into each other.

“Around 650 advocates practise here, but we hardly have any space for bar room. As there is no space and even less hygiene, case papers are often eaten by mice or become wet from leaks in the ceiling. The litigants have to bear the expenses for re-printing all the documents,” said Advocate Samadhan Uttam Sulane, president of Vikhroli Bar Association. He added that no structural audit of the building had been carried out despite several reminders to the authorities.

As the ceiling is weak, advocates are often seen looking up during hearings intermittently as a precautionary measure. “We heard that the ceiling had collapsed on a senior advocate during the monsoon of 2023. Luckily, he was not injured,” said a litigant appearing for a case on that day.

Despite these challenges, efforts to improve the situation, including the construction of a new building, have been delayed or stalled, leaving the courts in a precarious state.

Advocate Prakash Ghorpade, advocate Raju Randhive and advocate Ashish Chaurasiya threw light on how the construction that started in 2018 was stopped abruptly, and is yet to be completed. “We were told that the new building will be constructed in two years, but it’s been over six years now. Another private building in front of the court started demolition in 2022, and is now almost ready,” added senior advocate Sanjay Singh.

There is also a lack of first aid facility at the court. When a judge became unconscious while on the dais in 2017-18, he had to be physically carried out of the premises and rushed to a hospital.

Advocate Reena Garud and advocate Meenakshi Chandramore called attention to the challenges women advocates face as a 100-square-feet room – originally meant to store cupboards – has been turned into the ladies’ bar room. “This is a joke in the name of progress,” said Garud, adding days go by without the cleaning staff turning up.

Garud also said weeks go by without drinking water being available in court. “The water cooler in the ladies’ bar room has not been functioning since seven months; it passes electric shocks when someone seeks to use it. We complained to the authorities, but in vain. Now, we have stopped using it for our own safety,” said Chandramore.

When HT reached out to the registrar general of HC and the chief metropolitan magistrate for their views on the issues, they were unavailable for comment.