Former town planner Charanjit Singh collapsed and died on November 4 during a hearing at the Chandigarh Secretariat related to a long-standing building violation case concerning a fiber sheet installed at his home. Charanjit and his wife Savinderjeet Kaur faced an 11-year struggle with the Estate Office over this issue.As soon as the next hearing date was set in their case before the Chief Administrator-cum-Finance Secretary’s court, Charanjit Singh suddenly fell unconscious. He was immediately rushed to GMSH-16, where doctors declared him brought dead.Savinderjeet Kaur, a retired government school teacher from Sector 45, recounted the ordeal with trembling emotion. “A small fiber sheet took away my husband… I never knew our system was so corrupt.”She explained that the couple had legally installed a fiber sheet to cover the back lane of their Sector 44 house to prevent dust and garbage from entering. Yet, the Estate Office dragged them through a building violation case for 11 years, she claimed“We must have visited the Estate Office more than 50 times,” she said.“My husband was a Town Planner himself, an honest man, disciplined and upright. He never accepted a single rupee from anyone nor compromised his ethics.”Savinderjeet said they had renewed hope when a new Finance Secretary took charge.“We met him twice. His response was positive. Encouraged, we went to the hearing on November 4, carrying all our documents.”Story continues below this adBut that day took a tragic turn.“When the Superintendent said, ‘The inspection team went but you didn’t allow them inside,’ my husband calmly explained that we now live in Aerocity, Mohali, and a tenant mother-daughter duo resides in our house. The daughter’s wedding preparations were going on. The team has visited several times before; nothing has changed,” she recalled.Still, the officials fixed another date. “Hearing that, both of us felt disheartened,” she said.“My husband went to confirm the next date with the Superintendent, and suddenly, he collapsed. I screamed for help, begged them to take him to the hospital but no one from the staff moved.”It was only an advocate who was present and came forward to help. “He carried my husband down from the third floor, put him in a private car, and rushed him to GMSH-16. But the doctors said he didn’t make it.Story continues below this adBreaking down, Savinderjeet said, “I didn’t know how to inform my son in America or my daughter in Amritsar. My husband’s phone was locked, a woman staff member helped unlock it so I could call my daughter. We didn’t sleep the entire night.”Her son, Mandeep Singh, who works as an IT engineer in Texas, said, “Our home is peaceful, filled with prayers. Just recently, I gifted my father a Mercedes. We are a happy, well-settled family but a small fiber sheet and an endless system of harassment took my father’s life.Savinderjeet’s voice trembled as she added, “My husband died right in front of the officers, but no one from the Finance Secretary’s office has even called us till now. Our files are still lying there, God knows with whom. I just pray that no one else loses their life fighting such a cruel system. It’s time this system finally wakes up.”