After judge’s censure, PWD to speed up construction of new family court

MUMBAI: After Supreme Court judge Abhay Oka, while laying the foundation stone of the new high court premises at Bandra East on Monday, slammed the state for taking over six years to build a new family court, the PWD has swung into action. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Rajendra Rahane, the chief engineer of PWD’s Mumbai circle, said, “I have scheduled a meeting on Friday morning to review and speed up the project.”
A PWD officer said that many changes were made in the design, which was partially responsible for the delay. “The height of the building was increased and we were also told to construct a basement,” he said. “There were many unforeseen delays. But the main structure is now ready, and only the internal plastering, painting and wiring is felt. We can finish this by April 2025.”
At present, Mumbai has seven courts to deal with divorce cases. Last year, 7,645 cases were filed. “The family court began in 1989 with 400 cases but they are fast increasing year by year,” said a staffer. “In 2015, there was a proposal to have 17 courts, while then principal judge Indrakala Nanda had suggested 22 new courts for Mumbai in addition to the existing seven.” The present family court is located in a PWD building near the MMRDA headquarters at BKC while the new one is located near Guru Nanak Hospital in Bandra East.
While doing the bhoomi poojan of the new high court at Bandra, Justice Oka spoke about the dated infrastructure of trial courts and district courts in the state, asking all the dignitaries on the dais to cross the Maharashtra border and check out the state-of-the-art taluka and district courts in Karnataka.
“Hubli has the most modern taluka court as does Gujarat,” he said. “Our state is lagging far behind when it comes to infrastructure in trial and district courts. I must remind everybody that these are the courts of the common man, and therefore we have to pay attention to them. Just to give an example, a few kilometres away from this venue, the construction of the new family court building, which is a dire necessity for the city, has not been completed for the last six years.”
Matrimonial lawyer Mrunalini Deshmukh said she was happy that a Supreme Court judge had spoken up about the family court. “The infrastructure of the basic courts must improve,” she said. “The present court is in bad shape and there is no ventilation, no AC. There are papers kept everywhere and there is no place for lawyers to sit. I am happy that Justice Oka raised the issue.”