Bar Council of Delhi moves HC over flooding of office after rain

New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) The Delhi High Court directed civic authorities on Tuesday to carry out a joint inspection after the Bar Council of Delhi filed a plea highlighting the flooding of its office in the Siri Fort Institutional area following heavy rains in the capital last month.

The lawyers’ body said its office basement was completely submerged with more than 10 feet of water following the rainfall in the intervening night of June 27 and 28, and the flooding was of such a magnitude that it not only damaged the building but also resulted in loss of data stored by its information technology (IT) department.

Observing that the “image of a world-class city is completely shattered”, Justice Sanjeev Narula directed the civic authorities, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi Jal Board (DJB), to carry out a joint inspection of the area and take remedial measures.

The counsel for the authorities said the city witnessed a record rainfall on June 27 and they will take appropriate action with respect to the petitioner’s grievance.

“Let a joint inspection by officials, not below the rank of a superintendent engineer, of all respondents be carried out on the premises of the petitioner and the surrounding areas,” the court ordered.

“Let a report be furnished to the court. The respondents need not await further directions of the court for carrying out the remedial measures,” it added. The court said the honorary secretary of the council will also remain present during the inspection.

Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing in the court on behalf of the petitioner, said a nearby drain overflowed after the rains since it was not cleaned. “The drain is not clean even today. They have not cleaned it. Only direction (that is sought) is they should clean the drain,” he said.

In the petition, the Bar Council of Delhi has sought a direction to the authorities to make necessary arrangements and formulate a standard operating procedure to ensure that such a crisis does not occur in the future.

The petitioner has claimed that it had requested MCD officials through helpline numbers for carrying out the de-silting work and ensure that there is a proper drainage system to prevent water clogging, but no steps were taken.

“On June 27, in the normal course of business, the petitioner’s office was closed in the late evening. However, at around 6 am on June 28, the petitioner’s staff and office-bearers came to know that due to rainfall in the Siri Fort Institutional Area late night on June 27, the entire basement at the petitioner’s office was engulfed by rain water, which carried filth and garbage present on roads as well as drainage water owing to overflowing of the drainage system present in the area,” the plea has said.

“Due to water flooding of such magnitude, substantial damage has been caused to the building structure of the petitioner’s office and crucial loss of data maintained and stored by the IT department of the petitioner in its computer systems has also been destroyed as the basement of the petitioner’s office was completely submerged with over 10 feet of water and muddy slush,” it has added.

The matter will be heard next on July 30. RC