Five former Presidents of the Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI), which includes four senior advocates, have submitted a petition to the Bombay High Court, requesting the implementation of air conditioning systems in the Advocates Bar Rooms at the high court premises.

Today, the petition was brought up before a division bench consisting of Chief Justice Devendra K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor.

Advocate General Birendra Saraf, who is representing the state government, informed the bench that a government resolution has been approved, and financial resources have been earmarked for the necessary infrastructure.

The division bench stated that it will consider the petition on Monday.

The petition has been submitted by Senior Advocates Shirish Gupte, Ashok Mundargi, Prasad Dhakephalkar, Rajiv Patil, along with Advocate Balkrishna Joshi.

According to the plea, air conditioning systems were initially installed in the courtrooms in the year 2000 to mitigate external noise disturbances within the high court premises. However, the exhaust systems were positioned outside the bar rooms, causing the bar rooms to remain uncomfortably warm. As a response to representations made by the Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI), air conditioners were subsequently designated for the bar rooms in 2016.

The plea highlights that the air conditioners were in working condition until the year 2020. However, starting from 2021, there has been a lack of maintenance and servicing for the air conditioning units, leading to their malfunction. Consequently, due to the presence of the exhaust system located outside the bar rooms, temperatures within the bar rooms have begun to rise once more.

The former presidents had initially approached the high court with a request for the allocation of funds amounting to Rs. 43,137,719. However, the high court registrar sanctioned an allocation of Rs. 37,637,000 for the purpose of installing air conditioners. Nonetheless, the installation work has not been carried out up to this point.

The petition asserts that at present, the Advocates Bar Rooms within the high court premises lack adequate ventilation due to the presence of exhaust systems. 

The plea also states, "Presently, there is insufficient and unhealthy ventilation in the Bar rooms, making them unsuitable for human habitation due to the exhaust from the air conditioners in the courtrooms."

Case: Shirish Gupte & ors. Vs State of Maharashtra & Ors.