Gaya: The Gaya Bar Association has threatened to launch an agitation if construction of a new bar association building at the allotted site on the civil court premises does not begin soon.The association alleged that site inspection, measurement and other pre-construction formalities had been completed, but officials of the building construction department had not initiated work and were delaying the project on “flimsy grounds”.According to association president Syed Qaiser Sharfuddin, vice-president Vinay Krishna Prasad and officiating secretary N K Srivastav, the govt had sanctioned Rs80 lakh for construction of the building and all pre-construction formalities had been completed. They said they had also met district magistrate Shashank Shubhankar and other officials over the issue, but construction had not begun yet.The association’s executive committee will meet on Aug 5 to decide the mode of agitation. Sharfuddin said the association would take into account the interests of litigants and other stakeholders while deciding its course of action.However, the DM said the association’s agitation threat was based on incomplete information. “The law department has not yet released the funds for the building construction. Work will begin as soon as the funds are released,” he said.The association is also opposed to the proposed relocation of the existing district court complex to the western outskirts of the city. The proposed relocation has been necessitated by the dilapidated condition of the century-old building, poor utilisation of space and a shortage of facilities, including witness boxes, designated spaces for accused persons and infrastructure required by judges and lawyers.The relocation is also being considered in view of traffic congestion on Dak Bungalow Road, where the district court is currently located. The high footfall of litigants and lawyers has been identified as one of the factors contributing to traffic congestion in the area.Sharfuddin said instead of shifting the court complex to the western outskirts, the existing premises could be expanded vertically to address its infrastructure requirements. He said relocation would cause inconvenience to lawyers, litigants and other stakeholders.According to official sources, the relocation exercise is being undertaken on the instructions of the Patna high court.
