Saket Court a perfect model among district courts in Delhi-NCR, says survey

In a survey done on how well a court has been designed and how user-friendly its environment is, Saket District Court has come out as the well-equipped and welldesigned complex among the district courts in Delhi/ NCR.

Based on a survey - that focused on facilities for litigants - done by a leading legal think-tank,Vidhi - Centre for Legal Policy, the report said the court is a typical example of how a court should be designed.

Survey was done at all the six district courts in Delhi as well as NCR, including Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bharatpur and Alwar.

The courts were surveyed on various parameters like waiting area for litigants, ground-level entry points, utility block and other utilities as well as vehicular management.

Although Saket district court topped the list of the most well-designed court, it too had some areas to focus on like provisions for the blind or general signages, directions and maps.

Furthermore, its entry and exit points were not well managed, leading to crowds. In terms of the waiting area for litigants, which is the most crucial and important facility at a court complex, Saket had the best provisions of all the court complexes surveyed.

Waiting areas were large, well lit, air conditioned, with plenty of seating space. Karkardooma has the average seating capacity, but Tis Hazari court complex is in a dire need of renovations as it has run-down and dirty interiors.

Patiala House Court has a single waiting area reasonably away from courtrooms which is largely occupied by lawyers. On how disabled-friendly Delhi courts are, the survey found that Saket and Tis Hazari courts are the two complexes which have ramps leading to all the entry and exit points of the building, to the canteen, washrooms and waiting area for litigants.

The Patiala House court complex has only a set of stairs leading up to other floors. Saket and Karkardooma, out of all courts surveyed, have a dedicated entrance for advocates and litigants.

Many courts have low parking space when compared to the volume of vehicular traffic they cater. Rohini district court has the highest parking capacity among other courts like Dwarka, Patiala House, Saket, Tis Hazari and Karkardooma.

"In Tis Hazari court complex, cars trying to park or driving out from parking spaces cause delay for pedestrians due to narrow entrances. It would be even harder for a person on a wheelchair," the report said.

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