After video of "heavy showers" inside court, Maharashtra govt releases Rs. 2 cr. for repair of leaky ceiling in Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court

The Maharashtra government informed the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that it had taken urgent steps to release funds for completing civil works at the High Court building..Government pleader Ketki Joshi informed a Bench of Justices SB Shukre and AS Kilor that so far, an amount of Rs. 2 crore had been released by the State law and judiciary department.The submission was made during the hearing of a 2015 public interest litigation filed by the High Court Bar Association of Nagpur, which in the previous hearing on June 19, drew the Court's attention to a video recording of a leaky ceiling in one of the court rooms. .After looking at the video, the Court had said that this was not a case of droplets or trickles but heavy showers inside the court room."We find that a porous roof of Court hall letting in rain water, not in drops or trickles, but heavy showers is much more than a disability, it is an obstruction, for a justice-seeker and justice-dispenser," the Court had noted in its order. If court rooms are leaking in this fashion would it be possible for the High Court to dispense justice, the Bench had demanded.."Heavy showers" inside court room of Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court due to leaky ceiling prompts Court to demand immediate funds for repair.The Court had also emphasised during the June 19 hearing that it had passed orders on two previous occasions directing the State to ensure that contractors doing civil works are paid within a specified period of time after submission of financial bills..To ensure speedy compliance with those orders, the Court had directed the Registry to send a copy of such orders to the the Registrar General of the Court; the Principal Secretary, Law and Judiciary, Mantralaya Mumbai; and Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai..In response to such action taken by the Court, Joshi informed the Court on instructions that the law and judiciary department has forwarded a pending bill of Rs. 42,83,881 to the finance department for approval.She assured the Court that once the requisite approval is received, the pending amount will be released by the department. .The Court, however, noted that the pending amount seemed to be more than what Joshi said was raised before the finance department.According to a chart which was submitted during the previous hearing, the Court noted that the pending amount was about Rs. 72,46,545.The Court granted time to Joshi and Advocate Sudhir Puranik, appearing for the petitioner, to take instructions on the amount and to take necessary steps..The Court also urged the principal secretaries of the law and judiciary and finance departments, and other related departments, to verify the total amount of the pending bills, to ensure that all these pending bills are cleared on or before the next date..[Read order]