The Bombay High Court has directed Maharashtra government’s Public Works Department to conduct fire safety audits of all court buildings across the state in a phased manner within four months. A division bench of Justices A S Oka and V L Achliya said the recommendations submitted by PWD after carrying out the audit shall be accepted by the government and budgetary allowance made for the same.
The directions were passed during the hearing of a public interest litigation highlighting issues related to court infrastructure, including lack of basic necessities like toilet and drinking water and non-availability of basic laws online.
The court today said the basic laws of private publications have several errors in them and hence it is the government’s responsibility to provide the same. The court asked the government to upload all the basic laws and amendments on the government’s website within two months. “This is an elementary thing which the state needs to provide and ensure that real time updates are possible,” it said.
