Hoshiarpur lawyers’ chambers in bad shape; court orders FIR against contractor, supervisor

Sanjiv bakshi

Hoshiarpur, November 24

The court of ACJM Rupinder Singh has ordered the registration of an FIR against a contractor and a supervisor for alleged irregularities in the construction of lawyers’ chambers in the new court complex.

Substandard construction work

• On April 10, the Hoshiarpur courts were shifted to the new complex. As many as 231 chambers were constructed for Rs 4L each
• When lawyers shifted to new chambers, they found construction work to be of poor quality. One of them died after a fitting in a chamber fell on him

District Bar Association Secretary DS Grewal said on behalf of the District Bar Association, an application was filed in the court requesting the police to be instructed to investigate the matter and to monitor the case. While disposing of the petition filed on November 9, the court gave the order on Thursday.

Grewal said on April 10, the courts of the district were shifted to the new complex. Chambers were also allotted to the lawyers which were constructed at Rs 4 lakh a chamber. As many as 231 chambers were constructed by contractor Manmeet Singh of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and the construction work was supervised by Rajeev Devgan.

Grewal said when the lawyers started shifting to their new chambers, it was found that the construction work was of poor quality. The condition was so bad that a client of a lawyer even died after a fitting in a chamber fell on him. On June 1, an application was given by the District Bar Association to the Deputy Commissioner to investigate the matter.

The District Magistrate handed over the case to the Vigilance Wing of the PWD. However, the Vigilance Wing expressed helplessness in conducting the probe for the want of sufficient resources. The Bar Association roped in an independent authorised agency and got the investigation done into the quality of the construction work. The probe found the construction work to be of poor quality.

Grewal said during investigation it was found that the ratio of cement and sand in the construction work ranged from 01:19 to 01:27. Also, the iron bars used in the construction were not from the company decided in the contract. He said acting on the findings, the court directed the sadar police station to register a case against the accused contractor and the supervisor.