Alterations were allegedly made in the records of the Dindoshi City Court, indirectly endangering the lives of residents of Kanwal and Kanwal Co-operative Housing Society
Alterations were allegedly made in the records of the Dindoshi City Court, indirectly endangering the lives of residents of Kanwal and Kanwal Co-operative Housing Society in Four Bungalows at Andheri.
Presently, the renovation work in the seven-storeyed double-wing building complex has come to a halt following a stay on the work. The contractor, Shaikh Farooq Ahmed, had dragged the society to court, after it terminated his contract to renovate the buildings.
Now, the 42-resident cooperative society has alleged that roznamas (court records) of three courts were altered in its absence and without its consent. Apparently, a line was introduced in one roznama which enabled the opposite party to obtain an ex-parte stay on the repair work of the society buildings. “This resulted in the buildings being left in a dangerous condition with large gaping holes in the outer wall around the common passage and the stairwell,” said society’s chairman Dinesh Maingi.
Bombay City Court’s principal judge AP Bhangale has ordered an inquiry in the matter and the Kurar police station are also investigating the alleged surreptitious changes in the court records at Dindoshi.
“The roznama is sacrosanct. It is the indelible record of court proceedings. The record can be altered only by passing a fresh roznama in the presence of all the parties to the case; never in the absence of any of the contending parties,” said a senior lawyer, requesting anonymity. He said, “All courts and litigants are bound by the contents of the roznama and depend on it as an authentic history of the day’s proceedings. To interfere with the roznama as record of the court is unthinkable.”
The society’s allegations concern the proceedings on March 19 in courtrooms 1, 2 and 5 at Dindoshi. Courtroom No.1, where the matter was originally assigned, was vacant and courtroom No 5 was given temporary charge. The contractor however insisted on being heard by courtroom No.2. The judge in that court refused to hear the matter and directed the parties to courtroom No.5. The roznama thus passed by courtroom No.2, is now allegedly missing from the records.
The judge presiding in courtroom No.5 too refused to hear the matter and asked the parties to obtain a date from that shereshtedar (court staff). This roznama was allegedly later altered to accommodate an extra line at the end stating March 24 as the next date of hearing. Paradoxically, the earlier sentence in the court record was “the refusal to entertain the matter”.
After courtroom No.5 refused to hear the matter, both parties allegedly obtained a date of April 10 from courtroom No.1 and a noting made accordingly. This noting was later allegedly scratched out.
Thereafter, all of a sudden the society was served with an ex-parte stay order of March 24 passed by courtroom No.2.
On inquiry with the court offices, the society learnt that all the roznamas passed in their matter on March 19 were altered in its absence and without its consent and the noting for April 10 in the court diary of Courtroom No.1 was merely scratched out.
“No one had any explanation for all these alterations,” said Maingi, “We immediately filed for vacating the stay and served the opposite side with a notice of contempt and perjury.” All three applications will be heard by the court on Friday.
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