Narrow escape for family of ex-Justice as wall gives way

ibune News Service

Chandigarh, February 8

Family members of a former Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice AS Bains, had a narrow escape when the side wall of the kitchen of his house in Sector 3 collapsed last night due to digging work being carried out to lay the foundation of a house in the adjoining plot.

Rachhpal Kaur Bains (87), wife of Justice AS Bains, said the incident occurred around 10 pm yesterday when the wall of the kitchen gave way with a loud bang after rain. She said she, along with her maid, rushed out of the kitchen. She alleged that digging work to lay the foundation and basement of a house adjoining her plot was going on for the past many days. Despite raising the issue with the owner to be careful and leave space between the plots while digging, work was carried out without keeping the safety aspect in mind. She said they suffered a huge loss due to the incident.

She also lodged a complaint with the police against the owners. She also filed a complaint with the Estate Office alleging that digging for the basement was carried out without permission.

The owner of the plot where the digging work was carried out, B Singh, said there was nothing wrong in the construction as the building plan was approved. He said he had told the family members of Bains several times to resolve the issue as the wall had been constructed partly on his plot. He said as the house was old, the wall gave way.

‘Had raised issue’

Rachhpal Kaur Bains (87), wife of former Justice AS Bains, said the incident occurred around 10 pm on Thursday when the wall of the kitchen gave way. She said digging work to lay the foundation of a house adjoining her plot was going on for the past many days. Despite raising the issue with the owner to be careful and leave space between the plots while digging, work was carried out without keeping the safety aspect in mind.

Case registered

The UT police have registered a case on a complaint of Surinder Kumar, SDO (Buildings), against  Balraj Singh, Jai Arvind, Ramsis Singh, architect Mohit Vig, structure engineer Mohit Sachdeva and an unknown contractor under Sections 336 (act endangering the life or personal safety of others) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the IPC at the Sector 3 police station.