Lawyers plead for more room

The Andheri Court’s Bar Association along with two other advocate’s bar association in the city have filed a petition the High Court against the state, the Bombay High Court and the bar Association of Maharashtra, asking for space to be provided for lawyer’s chambers.

The petition states that there are 27,000 practicing advocates and about 19-20 different bar associations in the city and there isn’t enough room in the space provided to Bar Associations, for new entrants. They also pointed out that the state government, on the basis of the premise that lawyers were officers of the court, had provided space for their chambers in Pune, Nagpur, Solapur and Nashik but Mumbai had been discriminated against.

Also the petition alleges that in the premises of the Andheri Magistrate’s court, the old court building was demolished and a new muti-storey building was constructed on government land. The petitioner’s have also asked for the appointment of the executive engineer of the PWD as commissioner’s to survey courts in Mumbai and make a report of land available for construction of lawyer’s chambers. The HC has given the state government four weeks to file a detailed reply.