The court proceedings of the Senior Judicial Magistrate's Court is underway in a risky building in Galachipa upazila of Patuakhali. The one-storey building of the Galachipa Upazila Senior Judicial Magistrate's Court in Patuakhali was built just decades ago. This building has been in a dilapidated condition for a long time.
Court officials said that the casting of the beams have fallen off. Plaster has fallen due to cracks in many parts of the walls. The dilapidated condition of the toilet is causing hygiene concern. As a result of this situation, everyone including judges, lawyers and police are in panic during the court proceedings.
Apart from Galachipa, judicial proceedings of Rangabali Upazila take place on in this court.
Meanwhile, innumerable cracks and fissures appeared in every room of the court. These include magistrates' chambers, special rooms, peshkar rooms, court CSIs, GROs, duplicates, police barracks, prisons and other parts of the building. The most surprising thing is that the courtroom is very narrow. Judges, presenters, police, lawyers, lawyers' assistants, plaintiffs, defendants have no place to work properly.
Lawyers are blaming the contractor and the department for the dilapidated state of the court building, which was built just three decades ago. They claimed that this condition was caused due to the use of substandard materials and lack of proper supervision in the building. The building was inaugurated in 2000 by the then Law Minister Abdul Matin Khasru and was accompanied by the late State Minister Jahangir Hossain.
According to the concerned sources, hundreds of people appear in the court every day in addition to the court officials. At night, the police on duty live in the detention and police barracks rising their lives.
In this regard, Advocate Mohammad Shamim Mia said that the building was at risk and demanded construction of a new court building.
When asked, Patuakhali-3 MP SM Shahjada said that the executive engineer of Patuakhali Public Works Department has been directed to take necessary steps as the building is at risk. According to the directive, estimates for the renovation of the building have already been prepared and sent to the authorities for approval and allocation of funds.