Newly built magistrate court building at Mira Road lying idle for 10 months

MUMBAI: While court buildings at several places, especially in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, face a space crunch and lack infrastructural facilities, a three-storey building constructed for housing magistrate courts at Mira Road has been waiting to be inaugurated for the past 10 months.
The building has been in the making for more than 10 years now, a period that has witnessed two legislative assembly elections. However, it is still not operational, leaving litigants frustrated. The police, lawyers and residents of Mira Bhayandar currently have to travel to Thane to access a magistrate court, around 20 km away. The court, whose construction was completed in November last year, was one of the long-pending demands made by lawyers from the city.
“We have been suffering for the last 10 years,” said Pravin Patil, secretary of the Mira Bhayandar Advocates Association. “The roads from Thane to Mira Road are in very bad condition, and it takes at least two hours to reach the court from here. The court starts at 11 am sharp. If the judges call us and we are not present, the matter gets adjourned or delayed, which further affects our clients.”
“Many times, advocates prefer not to go all the way from Mira Bhayandar to Thane for hearing of a solitary case. The court then adjourns the matter, which in many ways also prolongs justice,” said advocate Jahangir Iqbal, a lawyer from the Mira Bhayandar region.
“And then, there are days when we have to travel only to take dates. If we forget some papers at home, then we cannot even go back to take the same,” said a litigant, a client of advocate Patil whose civil matter is pending before the magistrate court. “Our whole day gets wasted for one hearing,” they added.
At times, this also affects the production of an accused in the court after arrest. “There are multiple formalities to be completed after an accused is arrested by the police. Due to the time taken in taking the accused to court, the police might change the arrest timings, which can delay the production of the accused in court,” said advocate Iqbal.
According to the erstwhile code of criminal procedure (now known as Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita), a person who has been arrested must be produced before the jurisdictional judicial magistrate within 24 hours of their arrest. Police constable Manoj Rathore, associated with the Mira Road police station, said it takes a lot of time to produce the accused before the court in Thane because of the long distance.
Pravin Patil and other advocates have become regular visitors to the law and judiciary department in Mantralaya, where the file related to the magistrate court is awaiting sanction. “The matter has not been taken up by the concerned yet. The law and judiciary department must send the file to the finance department, where the budget for the same needs to be sanctioned—for recruitment of staff, providing furniture, necessary equipment like computers, etc,” said Patil.
Budget allocation has been cited as one of the main reasons why the court has not begun functioning yet, according to Adesh Patil, a lawyer from Mira Bhayandar and the joint secretary of the advocate’s association. “Every year, the funds are allocated based on that year’s financial position. Since the funds were not released on time, the work got delayed,” he said. Eight years is a considerable span of time for constructing a three-storey building and making the courts functional, added Pravin Patil.
The 4,200 sqm plot at Hatkesh, Mira Road, for the court building was allotted in 2008. The Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation sanctioned the building plans submitted by the Public Works Department (PWD) in 2013, and the work order was issued in 2014. Last November, the civic body issued a completion certificate for the building, but the court has yet to become functional.
There are seven police stations that fall under the Mira Bhayandar jurisdiction, for which four judicial magistrate courts are assigned. “Around 50% of matters from the courts in Thane will be shifted to Mira Road if the courts start functioning here,” said Pravin Patil. On average, 3,000 criminal cases and 1,000 civil suits are filed from Mira Bhayandar every year, he added.
“If the government had the intention to start the court, it would have happened already,” said Iqbal. “A lot of time has already gone. From what we understand, the court might not come up this year as well.”