Women lawyers, litigants lack access to clean toilets
At a time when there is great thrust on Swachh Bharat Mission, which aims to catalyse a nationwide commitment towards hygiene and sanitation, washrooms in a number of government establishments here present an extremely dirty picture. Today, HT carries out
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Toilets are not only unhygienic but have also become refuge for all kinds of nefarious activities. Criminals have used toilets on court campus to hide guns. ROHIT KANT, lawyer
LUCKNOW: It’s 10.30 am and the multis to rey court complex on the district court campus is bust ling with activity. Lawyer Jay anti Var ma, waiting for her turn to appear before the additional sessions judge to plead her case on the fifth floor of the building, decides to visit the ladies’ room, on the same floor. As she is about to enter, a male litigant comes out, much to her bewilderment.
As there is only one toilet on this floor, men also use this‘ women only’ toilet. As the lawyer enters the toilet, the stink compels her to rush out.
She waits for the hearing to get over and later uses the Central Bar Association’s toilet, located in another building. Jayanti’s case is an example of women lawyers lacking access to a clean washroom .
Ironically, all women lawyers undergo the same torture everyday on the court premises. Their male counterparts face the same predicament .“Stinking toilet son the court premises have become a part of our profession. Many of us have contacted urinarytract infection (UTI) after using unhygienic wash rooms here in an emergency situation,” said Jayanti.
In the eight–s to rey court complex on the district court campus, all toilets are in poor condition and unfit for use. The situation is no better in the court building referred to as ‘civil judge building’ or ‘South Block’ just adjacent to the multi-s torey court building.
Toilet sin the three-s to rey‘ district judge building’ ,another building on the district court campus, are also in an unhygienic condition. To note, several thousand people, including lawyers and litigants, turn up daily on the court campus.
Just like women lawyers, women litigants who come to court from far off places, including rural areas, are also put to great inconvenience.
Shyama Devi, 51, along with her relative Aarti, 42, turned up at the district court on Thursday to appear before a judge as part of the mandatory court proceedings.
On the second floor of the ‘civil judge’ building, the two relatives looked for a wash room. To theirs ur- prise, the lone women’s toilet was locked, so with no option , they unwilling ly entered the men’ s wash room located next to the women’s rest room. Both of them covered their faces with their shaw ls to avoid eye contact with men already using the wash room, but found another woman also inside.
“We had no option but to use the men’s washroom. Even this toilet is unhygienic and unsafe for use. On such a big court campus, there is not even a single clean toilet that women can use,” said Shyama Devi.
Lawyer Rohit Kant pointed out another aspect of toilets on the district court campus. “Toilets are not only unhygienic on the court campus but have also become refuge for all kinds of nefarious activities. In the past, criminals used toilets on the court campus to hide their guns ,” said Kant. He listed a series of incidents of bomb explosions in toilets on the district court campus. These took place on August 9, 2012 and October 4, 2017. “Even today, toilets are safe havens for criminals who meet colleagues there during court appearances,” he said.