Water Logging During Monsoon: High Court Orders Joint Inspection Of Bar Council Of Delhi's Office By Civic Authorities

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the civic authorities in the national capital to conduct a joint inspection of the office of the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD), situated at Siri Fort Institutional Area, over the issue of water logging due to heavy rain in the monsoon season.

Justice Sanjeev Narula directed the engineers, not below the rank of Superintendents, of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (BCD) and Delhi Jal Board to coordinate with each other and fix a time to inspect the BCD office and the surrounding area.

The court directed that the Engineer of MCD will be the nodal officer to undertake the joint inspection.

It further said that the Hony. Secy. BCD shall be present during the joint inspection to point out the issues raised by the lawyers' body.

The court directed the authorities to file a report within one week and listed the matter for hearing on July 30.

Justice Narula was dealing with a plea moved by BCD seeking direction on the civic authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that its office is not affected due to water logging and drainage water overflowing during the monsoon season.

Senior Advocate Ramesh Gupta appeared for MCD. The plea has been filed through Advocate T. Singhdev.

The plea contends that as monsoon season was approaching, various requests were made by BCD's staff to the officials of MCD to ensure a proper drainage system to avoid water clogging and for carrying out the desilting work in the drainage system present at Siri Fort Institutional Area.

The plea specifically refers to the night of June 27, stating that due to heavy rainfall, the BCD office was engulfed by rainwater which carried filth and garbage present on roads as well as drainage water.

It is BCD's case that due to water flooding of such, substantial damage was caused to its office. The plea submits that the data maintained and stored by BCD's IT department in its computer systems was also destroyed as the basement was completely submerged with over 10ft of water or muddy slush.

“Respondent No. 2 and other concerned authorities, being conversant to water logging issue at the Siri Fort Institutional Area were time and again requested to take preventive steps to avoid the immense water logging, however, no measures were ever taken by the Respondent authorities,” the plea reads.

The counsels appearing for MCD and Delhi Jal Board told the court that they would immediately look into the issue and take remedial action.

The plea states that the BCD office is in “complete disarray” and that its staff is unable to perform its statutory authorities, leading to a crucial loss of time, manpower and resources, which is affecting advocates across the National Capital Region.

Title: Bar Council of Delhi v. Govt. ofN.C.T. of Delhi & Ors.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 786