In a bid to make the Bombay High Court building disabled-friendly, Justice GS Patel has called for wheelchair access to all court rooms..Patel J made the suggestion in a property dispute involving a 96-year-old woman, who was one of the defendants..In fact, the order mentions that the judge had done everything in his power to ensure that the nonagenarian defendant was not inconvenienced. He had allowed an application under Order XVIII, Rule 16 of the Civil Procedure Code so that her evidence could be led even before the plaintiff’s. He also had his court assistant call on the defendant at her residence, for the purpose of getting her evidence affidavit affirmed..Further, on a previous hearing date, he ruled,.“She is requested not to trouble herself to attend further hearings; if her presence is required, not only will she be given sufficient notice, but arrangements will be made for easier access…”.The judge also went so far as to seek permission to shift from Court Room 37 to Court 46, so as to make things easier for her appearance in court. The order states,.“The 1st Defendant is in a wheelchair. Given her age and health, I found it was not possible to ask her to come to my assigned court room, CR No. 37. There are steps and a podium in that Court Room she would not have been able to negotiate; she would have had to be physically carried into the witness box which is on an elevated podium..That would have subjected her to an undeserved indignity in public view. I was compelled to seek administrative permission to shift to Court Room No. 46, which is wheelchair accessible, for the day to accommodate the 1st Defendant.”.Though the permission to shift was granted, Patel J stated that larger problem lay elsewhere..“I see no reason at all why every single court room in this building should not be reasonably accessible to those with a mobility impairment or difficulty. While I readily accept the need for heritage conservation, I cannot accept — and I imagine no court can either — that heritage conservation should impede the access to court of those with physical disabilities..That is surely contrary to every known canon of access to justice and to established constitutional rights. No litigant should be subjected to the indignity of having to struggle up needless steps or have to be physically carried into a court. Every court must, at a minimum, be wheelchair accessible.”.He then asked the Registry to place the matter before the concerned committee which would look into how wheelchair access could be implemented in all Bombay High Court courtrooms..Read the order:
In a bid to make the Bombay High Court building disabled-friendly, Justice GS Patel has called for wheelchair access to all court rooms..Patel J made the suggestion in a property dispute involving a 96-year-old woman, who was one of the defendants..In fact, the order mentions that the judge had done everything in his power to ensure that the nonagenarian defendant was not inconvenienced. He had allowed an application under Order XVIII, Rule 16 of the Civil Procedure Code so that her evidence could be led even before the plaintiff’s. He also had his court assistant call on the defendant at her residence, for the purpose of getting her evidence affidavit affirmed..Further, on a previous hearing date, he ruled,.“She is requested not to trouble herself to attend further hearings; if her presence is required, not only will she be given sufficient notice, but arrangements will be made for easier access…”.The judge also went so far as to seek permission to shift from Court Room 37 to Court 46, so as to make things easier for her appearance in court. The order states,.“The 1st Defendant is in a wheelchair. Given her age and health, I found it was not possible to ask her to come to my assigned court room, CR No. 37. There are steps and a podium in that Court Room she would not have been able to negotiate; she would have had to be physically carried into the witness box which is on an elevated podium..That would have subjected her to an undeserved indignity in public view. I was compelled to seek administrative permission to shift to Court Room No. 46, which is wheelchair accessible, for the day to accommodate the 1st Defendant.”.Though the permission to shift was granted, Patel J stated that larger problem lay elsewhere..“I see no reason at all why every single court room in this building should not be reasonably accessible to those with a mobility impairment or difficulty. While I readily accept the need for heritage conservation, I cannot accept — and I imagine no court can either — that heritage conservation should impede the access to court of those with physical disabilities..That is surely contrary to every known canon of access to justice and to established constitutional rights. No litigant should be subjected to the indignity of having to struggle up needless steps or have to be physically carried into a court. Every court must, at a minimum, be wheelchair accessible.”.He then asked the Registry to place the matter before the concerned committee which would look into how wheelchair access could be implemented in all Bombay High Court courtrooms..Read the order: