Jaipur Family Court ‘toilet’ turned into Bar Council polling booth, defying HC removal order
HC ordered removal on April 4 and nodal officer issued two-day notice on April 8; BCR poll still set there April 22.
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Family Court Jaipur
Jaipur: A public toilet on the premises of the Jaipur Family Court — the subject of a Rajasthan High Court order directing its removal — has been designated as polling booth number 121 for the Bar Council of Rajasthan elections scheduled for April 22, the Pariwarik Nyayalaya Bar Association has alleged.
According to Association President D.S. Shekhawat, the toilet was originally built for litigants and women visiting the court. Between September 13 and September 16, 2024, during court holidays, a section allegedly broke into the facility and took unlawful possession of the structure, he alleged.
The disputed toilet falls within the boundary wall of the new Family Court building, which is currently under construction. The association has said the toilet must be removed before the boundary wall can be completed, and that the occupation is delaying the new building.
On the issue, the association wrote repeatedly to the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, Shekhawat said. The High Court called for a report from the District and Sessions Judge, Jaipur. Office-bearers of the association met Justice P.S. Bhati on April 2, 2026, and explained the difficulties facing the boundary wall work. On April 4, 2026, the High Court ordered the public toilet to be removed so that construction could proceed.
In compliance, the Nodal Officer of the Pariwarik Nyayalaya Bar Association issued a notice on April 8, 2026 to ‘a fraction of advocates’, giving it two days to vacate the toilet. No further action followed, the association said. On April 16, 2026, the protesting association wrote to the Jaipur Metropolitan-1 District and Sessions Judge, seeking enforcement of the High Court order.
Despite the pending directive, the toilet has been set up as polling booth number 121 for the Bar Council of Rajasthan elections, where advocates are to cast their votes on April 22 said D.S. Shekhawat and General Secretary Pankaj Arora, terming the move improper and said it goes against the dignity of the advocates. They added that there is not even space to sit inside the toilet.
