Small stuffy courtrooms, papers piled up to the ceiling, litigants’ queues in front of court rooms, lawyers sitting at broken tables and chairs are some of the common sights at Howrah criminal court. However, all this will be a thing of the past in the New Year when a new judicial complex is due to come up within the premises of Howrah Court, replacing the old one. 

“A new judicial complex was long overdue in Howrah. We started a movement demanding a new complex as far back as in 1994, when a constable and a court employee were killed as chunks of concrete fell on them from the ceiling of the court lockup during peak court hour,” said Samir Basu Roy Choudhury, a senior criminal lawyer. Already the old office of the superintendent of police (SP) has been demolished, making way for a new G+10 building on 24 cottahs of land. 

The new judicial complex will accommodate all the nine criminal court rooms, two SDO courts and a Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Office in the first phase. Later, the civil courts will also be shifted to the new judicial complex which will also have a basement parking lot in which the cars of the judges and lawyers will be accommodated. 

The ground floor will house the government record (GR) section, police lockup, eateries and shops. The courtrooms will be accommodated on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors. Each floor will have 10,000 sq ft floor area that can accommodate toilets, drinking water and other civic amenities. There will be two lifts. “Initially the cost of the project was estimated at Rs 35 crore but now the cost has risen to Rs 50 crore. 

Construction work of the new judicial complex is on and it is expected to finish by the end of 2015,” said a PWD engineer who did not want to be named. 

People, who often have to visit Howrah court, are happy that a new sprawling judicial complex is coming up within the Howrah court premises. “I have been visiting Howrah court for the last 15 years. The condition of the court is very bad. There is no running water, the condition of the toilets is very bad, and people have to stand near the court as there is no place to sit. It is good that a new judicial complex is coming up in the New Year,” said Alok Bhattacharya, a resident of Shibpur.  Lawyers are equally happy with the new judicial complex. “The courtrooms were built everywhere without any proper planning. If all the courtrooms and other offices associated with courts are accommodated under a single room, it is good both for the lawyers and their clients,” said Sanatan Mukherjee, a senior most criminal lawyer of Howrah court.