Power failure, floods hit Court houses

Sandasen MARASINGHE

COLOMBO: Colombo High Court Judges and District Court Judges performed their duties in candlelight yesterday due to a power failure.

The design of the High Court houses naturally makes the interior dark and prevailing weather conditions made the problem even worse yesterday.

Meanwhile three inches of water crept into the record room of the District Court in Colombo due to heavy rain at noon yesterday. The staff managed to prevent any damage to the files.

The staff said there were no emergency lights in the Court houses or in offices.

A lawyer said the problem could have been solved by installing a single generator.

Even last month, the functions of the record rooms of both Colombo District Court and Colombo High Court came to a standstill owing to a power failure.

There were many practical problems of taking candles into the record rooms since they were filled with case records, the staffers said.

The staff members also complained they were facing many difficulties in using computers due to frequent power failures.