Four new lifts at Vellore Court inaugurated

Inauguration of four new lifts at Vellore court complex eases access for litigants, staff, and judges.

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Four new passenger lifts for petitioners, staff and judges at the Combined Court Complex in Vellore town were inaugurated on Friday.

Accompanied by senior district judges, practicing advocates, court staff and litigants, the Principal District Judge (PDJ) P. Murugan inaugurated the lifts installed by the Public Works Department (PWD) at the three-storey building.

“We had to climb steep staircases to reach court halls and advocate chambers in the building all these years. Our ordeal has ended with the opening of lifts,” said K. Parijatham, a litigant.

PWD officials said that each lift can accommodate at least 13 persons at a time. Among four lifts, which were built at a cost of ₹1.09 crore, three lifts will be used by litigants and court staff while the remaining one will be used exclusively by judges. Regular maintenance will be done by the PWD.

Court officials said that the decades-old court was functioning from a dilapidated colonial building inside the 16th century granite fort before it was moved to a spacious new campus in Sathuvachari on Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH 48) in 1997.

Divided into two blocks, the court had lifts in its ‘B’ block for many years. However, the ‘A’ block, built in 2017, which housed the Mahila court, seven Judicial Magistrate courts, First Additional District Judge court, consumer court, labour courts and family court, did not. On an average, 200-300 cases were heard in these courts every day.