MUMBAI, October 5: A 1996 case filed by the owner of the ground and first floors of Poonam Chambers, G J Samtani, against Standard Chartered Bank which occupied the basement, is due to appear for a Chamber hearing in Bombay High Court next Wednesday, three weeks after the building actually collapsed, killing 19 people.

A Chamber hearing is a hearing in a judge's chamber as opposed to a hearing in an open court room.

On November 23, 1996, Samtani had filed a petition in High Court asking for a stay order on all renovations being carried out by Standard Chartered which he said were damaging the NABARD office.

On the same day, Justice M R Batkar granted a stay order on the work in the basement. However, on February 26 this year, Justice A P Bangle vacated the stay order. Renovation work resumed and the bank opened a branch to handle share and custodial services in the basement, a few months before the building collapsed.

Samtani had sold the basement, originally a car park measuring 12,000 square feet, to the bank through one Florecee real estate firm for around Rs 3 crore. But last year, alarmed by renovations carried out by Standard Chartered in the basement and exterior of the building, Samtani wrote several letters of complaint to the bank in October. He also despatched a flurry of letters to the police, BMC and NABARD warning that the building could collapse as a result of the renovations.

The loudest warning came from his letter to Standard Chartered in October 1996, where he went so far as to state that Poonam Chambers could `collapse like a pack of cards, like a recent building crash in Sion' (the Navre building collapse in Sion on March 7 which killed 28 persons).

NABARD officials too, prompted by falling plaster and cracking walls which they claimed occurred due to the renovations being carried out in the basement, wrote a letter to the ward officer G (south) warning about the dangerous state of the building in February this year. However, the BMC officers assured them that they had inspected the building, and that there was no danger to life and property. (see Newsline's report dated September 23).

The BMC also informed Samtani in a letter dated December `96 that the ward office had permitted repair of the basement walls for leakage and percolation of sea water and for necessary additions and alterations in the basement to accommodate Standard Chartered Bank's lockers. The letter adds, ``After completion of the said repair work, if the work carried out is found beyond the permission granted, necessary action will be initiated as per prevailing rules.''

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered Bank Martin Fish pointed out that the case had already been dismissed by High Court and denied that renovations in the basement were to blame for the collapse. ``We've had all the appropriate user classifications. We were absolutely careful and did everything by the book,'' he said.

Documents submitted by the bank to certify the safety of the building included a certificate from a structural engineer. Dated October 10, 1996 from Rajeev Shah and associates, it certifies the building as safe and stable. ``This is to certify that the work carried out in the basement of Poonam Chambers II, Worli for Standard Chartered Bank has not disturbed the stability of the existing structure and further certify that the existing structure with the new addition is structurally safe and stable,'' the letter states.

``We gave the certificate only for the repairs in the basement and not for the entire building,'' said Rajeev Shah. He added that no structural changes were made during the renovation. ``We used epoxy treatment for the leakages in the basement and the corroding ceiling bars,'' Shah explained.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.