Shame and fear over room No 420

HYDERABAD: It is not just No 13 that people consider unlucky and refuse to have it either as door numbers or floor numbers in buildings. But here in the city, even the number 420 is not finding any takers.
Reason: Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deals with cheating cases. For instance, in the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, employees who have been allotted room No 420 in various office blocks are an unhappy lot.
"This is always at the back of our minds, especially when someone asks where we sit or on every morning, when we see the brass plate denoting room No 420 as we come to work," an employee of room No 420 in the ''J'' block of the Secretariat said.
Another employee Md Raziuddin Shaker, his desk loaded with files in the same room, said, "I am responsible for transfer of three lakh teachers from all over the state."
While this may have little to do with the room number he sits in, he said pointing to the files piled on his desk: "I do not have time to relate section 420 of IPC with my room number. I am aware that section 420 has a different meaning in legal matters. All I can say is that I am surely embarrassed to sit in a room having such a number."
"Sometimes we are referred to as 420s, though I never heard anyone directly addressing us by that name. I know that some people make fun of us by associating section 420 of the IPC with our room number," another employee said.
In the recently constructed and posh ''D'' block, principal secretary of the public enterprises department Deepak Kumar Panwar, who was allotted room No 420 got the number plate removed.
Though room No 421 figures just next to his room, the number plate bearing No 420 is missing. "I do not know the reason why Panwar wanted the number removed. But he wanted it to be removed immediately after occupying the room," an official said.
A few numbers have always been reportedly problematic for people as they carry various meanings strongly influencing the feelings of a person. For instance, throughout the Western world people can still be found numbering their houses 12 1/2 to avoid living in number 13.
The state lotteries of France, Italy and elsewhere never sell tickets with number 13. Hotels and hospitals and similar institutions have no room numbered 13. Many big buildings also do not have 13th floor. Section 420 of the IPC says that cheats shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to paying penalties.