New Mazgaon court bldg to cost Rs 387cr, state tells HC :The Times of India (Mumbai)

Will Have 17 Storeys

A multi-storey court towering over 17 storeys at a cost of Rs 387 crore is being proposed, after pulling down the now-abandoned Mazgaon magistrates court, the Bombay high court was informed on Wednesday . “The building will be a ground-plus-17-storey struc ure with 48 courtrooms and other acilities,“ said Asif Patel, assistant government pleader.

The five-storey Mazgaon court building now stands abandoned, wo years after lawyers and judges were evacuated from the building n July 2013. This was necessitated merely 16 years after the construc ion of the building, after a struc ural audit found it “weak“.

The office of the chief architect of the state proposed the plan for he new building, which was approved by the high court in September 2014. However, almost a year later it has not been smooth sailing for he project, which is still stuck at he budgetary approval stage.

The public works department, n a note submitted to the HC, indicated that budget constraints were holding up the work. Due to the lim ted sanctioned annual outlay and ongoing construction work for the judiciary across the state, the note said it would be difficult to earmark funds for the Mazgaon court building, unless additional money was approved. Last week, a request had been sent to the planning department for additional sanction of funds of Rs 100 crore for the construction of the building, the PWD said. The note added that following the budget sanction, consent will be taken from the finance department and it will then be placed before the infrastructure committee headed by the chief secretary .

The court was hearing a petition filed by Kantilal Shanghoi, president of Mazgaon Bar Association, seeking the reconstruction of he building. Advocate Avinash Gokhale, counsel for the petitioner, expressed concern over the delay in constructing the new building. The advocate said that the 13 courts in he erstwhile Mazgaon building were shifted to the court building in Sewri, which itself was in need of repairs. The state informed the HC hat repairs would be taken up at a cost of Rs 8 crore.

Constructed in 1997 by the state PWD, the Mazgaon court building used to house 13 courtrooms and a special MCOCA court where 2,0002,500 cases were heard daily . A structural audit had found the building was “not habitable“ and repairs were “unviable“.