Mumbai: A south Mumbai housing society won a legal battle for safety after 14 years as a court ordered restoration of the first-floor emergency fire exit and demolition of an illegal room directly beneath its staircase in two months.Upholding the grievance of the 56-year-old New Akash Ganga Cooperative Housing Society on Bhulabhai Desai Road, the court said since the exit is meant to serve as an escape route in case of a fire, there should be no encroachment.The ground floor space was illegally turned into a residence by the housing society’s former caretaker, Ram Shreshtha, and housed a kitchen platform with an LPG cylinder, a cupboard, a refrigerator and a TV.Declaring Shreshtha’s acts “illegal, null and void”, judge R S Aradhye said on Friday that one can’t obtain right to transfer of premises “merely on the basis of some documents like Aadhaar card, PAN card, voter identity card and driving licence”.The housing society moved the civil court in Oct 2011. Its case centred on the risk posed by a locked and obstructed fire escape staircase. During his employment, Shrestha had been given space to reside but he ended up turning it into permanent accommodation without permission and didn’t leave when his employment ended. He resided there with his family. The housing society sent a written complaint to civic officials on Sept 12, 2006, seeking an immediate inspection of what it called as an illegal occupation under the emergency staircase. An inspection followed that Oct 28 and the report recorded that the staircase portion had been encroached upon and was being used as residence, with the entrance and exit locked, and also noted alterations, including a kitchen platform and appliances placed below the staircase. The report warned that the obstruction “may become hazardous if any fire takes place in the building”, and noted that the staircase, being an escape access, should remain free of encroachment.On Oct 31, the civic office issued a removal notice. In its Nov 9 reply, the housing society contested any suggestion that it was responsible for the obstruction and sought action against the occupant. When the obstruction remained, the civic body filed a criminal complaint that led to a process being issued on Jan 21, 2010, against the society’s office-bearer and Shreshtha. A sessions court’s revision order on April 21, 2011, set aside the process against the society.During the trial before the civil court, society members were examined, along with a witness who took photos and an architect who prepared a plan showing the blocked fire exit. Shreshtha contested the claim of encroachment and asserted long residence since 1980, relying on identity and documents to show the space as his address. The court found that such documents did not confer title and noted inconsistencies in the addresses and room descriptions across the papers produced.The court accepted the civic inspection report and notices as proof of the staircase being an escape route and of the obstruction posing a hazard. The judgment made note of the evidence that the staircase served as the fire exit for the first two floors, while another fire escape existed for the remaining part of the building, and relied on the architect’s plan and photos showing the first-floor fire exit area being covered and blocked.If Shreshtha does not demolish the encroached portion by the deadline, the society could approach municipal authorities for enforcement, said the court.
