Underground Metro to benefit lawyers in three courthouses

The Metro underground line, which opens later this month, is expected to benefit 12,000-odd lawyers who shuttle between the High Court, the Mayo Hall courthouse and the City Civil and Sessions Court every day. It will also solve their problem of finding a suitable parking space on the congested roads around the three courthouses.

Once the east-west corridor of Namma Metro becomes fully operational, lawyers can seamlessly travel from City Civil and Sessions Court (Sir M Visvesvaraya station), High Court (Vidhana Soudha station) and Mayo Hall courthouse (MG Road station) or vice versa.

A bigger benefit to lawyers will be the end of their vehicle parking worries, which they say is a bigger hassle than shuttling between the courts.

Narendra Dev, an advocate who shuttles between the three courts, said the underground line would not only help lawyers like him but also litigants. “We can just park our vehicles at one place and travel by Metro. We can tell our clients and colleagues when exactly will we reach a particular courthouse,” he said. Dev said that currently they reach a courthouse on time but struggle for hours to find a suitable parking space.

“Sometimes, we have to request the judge to pass our cases over for the simple reason that we are unable to reach the courthouse on time,” he added.

H C Shivaramu, president of Advocates’ Association Bengaluru, said that the underground Metro line would also help curb pollution around the courthouses. Lawyers shuttle between these courthouses by car, motorcycle or autorickshaw.

The association would try to arrange for Metro passes for its members, he said.
U A Vasanth Rao, Chief Public Relations Officer, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), said lawyers must ensure they get their luggage (files, documents) properly screened before they board the Metro train.