Pay and park facility to start at Family Court

According to the new arrangement, the contractor will pay the administration ₹10,000 per month and collect parking fees from visitors who park their vehicles inside the family court premises

Pune

Due to the ongoing Pune Metro work and the construction of a new building within the Shivajinagar court premises, parking has become a difficult issue for visitors, including lawyers. (HT PHOTO)

Five years after the Family Court Lawyers Association first requested it, the Bombay High Court has finally approved the establishment of a pay and park scheme at the family court premises.

According to the new arrangement, the contractor will pay the administration ₹10,000 per month and collect parking fees from visitors who park their vehicles inside the family court premises. The court’s lawyer fraternity has expressed satisfaction with the approval granted by the high court, citing how it will streamline the parking arrangement and benefit litigants, family lawyers, and general visitors.

Due to the ongoing Pune Metro work and the construction of a new building within the Shivajinagar court premises, parking has become a difficult issue for visitors, including lawyers.

The family court building was inaugurated by the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Aug 12, 2017, in presence of the then Mumbai High Court Chief Justice Dr Manjula Chellur. Though the parking arrangement for judicial officers and staff is in place, it has been a difficult task for litigants and lawyers who have had to park their vehicles at the Shivajinagar court premises, which has also experienced a severe shortage of parking space in recent years.

Advocate Vaishali Chandane proposed ₹10,000 rupees as monthly rent for the parking premises to be rented out, and a revised proposal to that effect was submitted to the Mumbai high court on July 22, 2022.

In its letter dated March 23, addressed to the family court, the high court granted permission to begin the pay and parking facility. However, some practising lawyers had threatened to strike if the court order is not issued immediately.

“The issue of pay and park facility has been pending for a long time, and the high court has now given its permission for the said facility to begin,” said Advocate Chandane, President of The Family Court Lawyers Association.

“Its implementation will begin soon and will benefit all stakeholders,” she said.