Chandigarh, January 30
Thousands of documents pertaining to different cases were destroyed in a fire that broke out in the record room of the Punjab and Haryana High Court complex this morning.

There was no casualty in the incident. The fire, which broke out around 3.30 am, could be brought under control only around 6.30 am. The job of clearing embers and saving documents went on throughout the day.

The branch maintains records pertained to civil disputes, insurance claims, matrimonial disputes and motor accident claims etc. The building, in which the fire broke out, houses six branches, including DRR/CRC branch, exclusive branch, store, RTI branch, civil revision branch, criminal branch, RKJ branch and a museum.

Though the extent of loss was yet to be ascertained, sources said the civil revision branch was the worst-affected. It lost around 70 per cent of the total record. Its “First Appeal against the Orders” section lost all its record.

The Fire Department received the information around 3.40 am from the police control room, following which five fire engines were pressed into service. “It took us more than three hours to douse the flames,” claimed fire officials. Even at 12.30 pm, smoke was seen emanating from some of the windows of the building. The fire was first noticed by a guard.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi reached at the spot around 4.45 am to take stock of the situation. He again visited the spot around 11.15 am. Apart from judges of the high court, UT Home Secretary Ram Niwas, Finance Secretary VK Singh, Inspector General Pradeep Srivastava and SSP Naunihal Singh also visited the spot.

Certain files were, reportedly, destroyed by the water used to extinguish the fire. “The water entered in the basement, where the record of decided cases is kept and destroyed many files,” said an official.