62years old uses IPC to punish builder for his malaria in Mumbai

Khar resident discovers forgotten law to book developers of a filthy construction site for negligently spreading disease

Yogesh.Sadhwani @timesgroup.com

A senior citizen from Khar, seeking to punish the developer of a filthy construction site he blames for his repeated bouts of malaria, has turned to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for redress.

In the first case of its kind, Indur Chhugani has invoked Section 269, a forgotten law that holds the builder responsible for "negligence likely to spread a life-threatening disease", thereby opening the doors for other cases against errant developers across Mumbai.

"Not many people know this, but every citizen has the right to use the IPC," Chhugani, 62, told Mumbai Mirror on Saturday. "Here I used it to have developers who do not maintain cleanliness on their sites booked. Even civic officials can use this provision to book errant builders," he said.

Chhugani, who had earlier been involved in a protest against illegal police chowkies in the city, has been living in Pinky Panorama society at Khar’s 6th Road for the last 16 years. A construction site in his lane – once Deepak Niwas – is lying abandoned for several months. “It has every infectionspreading ingredient: open toilets, puddles with stagnant water, construction material on which dirt has settled, and an open water tank,” Chuggani said.

While no one had paid much attention to the goings-on on the site for weeks, it caught Chuggani’s attention after he recovered from malaria in August, and then had a relapse just two weeks later. “It was then I realised that almost half-adozen people in my building, and many more in the area were also down with malaria. This was the first time in so many years that something like this had happened, since our locality is extremely clean and there are no known breeding sites,” he said.

After talking to several other neighbours in his locality, Chuggani started suspecting that the cause for the disease could be the abandoned construction site next to his building. “Since it was barricaded on all sides, the filth inside was not clearly visible. But once we conducted a survey, there was no doubt in our mind where the problem lay,” he said.

While Chuggani’s first thought was to complain to the BMC, he decided to turn to the IPC and search for a law among its numerous hidden treasures. After searching for days, he stumbled upon Section 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection or disease dangerous to life, inviting six months in prison).
He rushed to the Khar Police Station to lodge a complaint, but the desk officer said that all such problems should be addressed to the BMC.
“He said that there was no provision in IPC. But when I showed him the relevant section, the startled officer consulted his seniors and lodged my FIR,” Chhugani said.

When the cops examined the construction site, they found the stench unbearable, no provision for drainage, and water settling on the plot. They saw workers staying in the shanties on the plot used the open toilets and threw garbage on the plot itself.

Police, however, still don’t know for certain who the land belongs to, though the workers on the site say it is owned by the prominent builder, which is developing several buildings in the area.

Mangesh Pote, senior inspector of Khar Police Station, said that as of now an offence had been registered against an “unknown” developer, and an officer had been deputed to investigate. “We will carry out a fresh panchnama this week, by when we should have more details,” he said.

When contacted, a spokesman for the builder could not immediately confirm if the property belonged to his company, and asked until Monday to get back.

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I sincerely hope citizens across the country, will initiate action on similiar lines under IPC 269, against Builders and corrupt Muncipal Officers, who are responsible for many health hazards in towns and cities ... Indur Chhugani

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