The 102-year-old Nyay Mandir, home to the district and sessions court, is showing its age. Hastening the greying process, of course, is the apathy of the Public Works Department and the failure of court officers to follow up any maintenance issue.

The magnificent edifice, designed by F R Chisholm, was once a study in the play of natural air and light. But infrequent whitewashing -- chief accountant R J Parmar says the place hasn't been painted in the past 10 years -- and lackadaisical clean-up jobs have robbed the structure of its innate charm. Today, it's just another public building frequented by 10,000 clients, 1,200 lawyers and 500 staff members everyday.

The strain tells. The northern main entrance has been closed ever since a chunk of a dome collapsed on the spot a few years ago; the southern entrance stinks permanently of human excreta and overflowing sewage. More than two dozen lawyers -- including Baroda Bar Association president Narendra Tiwari -- who have their offices at the gate are constantly exposed to the foul smell.

Inside, the story gets only more depressing. Peeling plaster, cobwebs and paan-stains tell their own tale of neglect and carelessness. The indifference of the PWD authorities is further borne out by the fact that there are no exclusive toilets for women, while the common toilets add to the unpleasant odour that's almost a permanent feature of the building.

A leak in the pipeline of a first-floor toilet is creating sanitation problems as well as damaging the walls of the building. ``The PWD staff has failed to correct the fault despite repeated reminders'', says Parmar.

Though registrar G H Shaikh refuses to comment on the maintenance -- or lack of it -- of the building, Parmar says he's asked the Vadodara Municipal Corporation half-a-dozen times to clear the drains on the southern side, clean up the area and urged the PWD to take proper care of the Nyay Mandir, but to no avail.

``Even the water cooler has not been repaired despite six letters to the PWD'', says Parmar, claiming that every plea for repairs is rejected on the grounds that funds were scarce. According to estimates, fresh electrification and whitewashing will require Rs 25 lakhs and Rs 7 lakhs respectively.

Surprisingly, PWD Executive Engineer (Roads and Buildings) H C Chaudhary claims he has never been approached for either whitewashing, electric wiring or repairs of Nyay Mandir. ``There's no scarcity of funds for repairs'', he says. ``I will ask the appropriate authorities of the district court about the necessary repairs.''

While the contradictory claims expose the utter lack of coordination, one hopes that by the time the various departments concerned get their act together, it's not too late to restore the crumbling beauty of Vadodara.