AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Thursday expressed displeasure over the investigation into the Rajkot Game Zone fire that killed 27 people last month, and ordered a 'fact finding inquiry' to find out how the illegal structure And what was your role in it? officers.
Expressing displeasure over the attendance of several senior officials at the inauguration ceremony of the TRP Game Zone, which burnt down on May 25, the High Court said that after the fact-finding committee submits its report, a departmental inquiry will be held to fix the accountability of the officials. An investigation will be ordered.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranab Trivedi was hearing a PIL filed on May 26.
The CJ asked the state government to constitute a fact-finding committee under the Principal Secretary of the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department by Monday. It asked the state government to submit the report by July 4.
Additionally, the bench also asked the Principal Secretary of the State Education Department to constitute teams to conduct fire safety inspections in all categories of schools including pre-schools in the state and complete the work within a month.During the hearing, senior advocate Amit Panchal, whose civil application regarding fire safety has been attached with this suo motu PIL, informed the bench that the then Superintendent of Police, Rajkot, District Collector, Municipal Corporation of Rajkot Commissioner and District Development Officer participated. Inauguration ceremony of TRP Game Zone.
Although Advocate General Kamal Trivedi informed the bench that the state government has already appointed a Special Investigation Team and the conduct of its investigation is as the bench was expecting, the Chief Justice said that the government is only investigating lower level officials. It is catching the people and leaving the big ones. fish".
“We are not in the SIT report.There should be a disciplinary inquiry and fact-finding investigation to find out who was at fault from the beginning of the construction of the play area till its completion and possession. Top officials had participated in the events in the sports sector. You have suspended only lower level officials. Top officials have to go,” CJ Aggarwal said.
“The Municipal Corporation Commissioner cannot say that I am not aware.You arrested the officers without any fact-finding investigation into whether any higher official was responsible or not. You are taking action against small fish. Where are the big fish that were present at the inauguration ceremony? Why didn't you put any responsibility on him?" the bench asked.
Referring to the recent Morbi Bridge tragedy and Harni Lake incident, the CJ raised questions on the functioning of urban local bodies.
“We want a fact-finding investigation. We want to know the role of the guilty officers.The report should contain the name of each officer. Accountability should be fixed after conducting a departmental inquiry. Nothing less than that,” CJ said.
When the Advocate General appearing for the state government urged the bench to wait for a few more days as the SIT is submitting its report on June 20, the bench pointed out that the SIT report on the Morbi bridge tragedy has come very late.
“Not for a day.We want a departmental inquiry, and the first step is a fact-finding inquiry by a departmental authority. Because you are responsible for everything. We remained patient in the first two incidents. In all three incidents (Morbi bridge collapse, Vadodara boat incident and Rajkot game zone fire), one thing is common that these civic bodies are not working efficiently,'' the Chief Justice said.
“This happened in Morbi (Morbi bridge collapse incident).You waited for the SIT report for years. It came too late. We don't want to do that. Why are the department heads sitting silent? He should have taken the initiative on his own,” said CJ Aggarwal.
Apart from investigating the Rajkot fire, the bench asked the government to ensure that the fact-finding committee also investigates the functioning of all municipal corporations.
Expressing displeasure over the attendance of several senior officials at the inauguration ceremony of the TRP Game Zone, which burnt down on May 25, the High Court said that after the fact-finding committee submits its report, a departmental inquiry will be held to fix the accountability of the officials. An investigation will be ordered.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranab Trivedi was hearing a PIL filed on May 26.
The CJ asked the state government to constitute a fact-finding committee under the Principal Secretary of the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department by Monday. It asked the state government to submit the report by July 4.
Additionally, the bench also asked the Principal Secretary of the State Education Department to constitute teams to conduct fire safety inspections in all categories of schools including pre-schools in the state and complete the work within a month.During the hearing, senior advocate Amit Panchal, whose civil application regarding fire safety has been attached with this suo motu PIL, informed the bench that the then Superintendent of Police, Rajkot, District Collector, Municipal Corporation of Rajkot Commissioner and District Development Officer participated. Inauguration ceremony of TRP Game Zone.
Although Advocate General Kamal Trivedi informed the bench that the state government has already appointed a Special Investigation Team and the conduct of its investigation is as the bench was expecting, the Chief Justice said that the government is only investigating lower level officials. It is catching the people and leaving the big ones. fish".
“We are not in the SIT report.There should be a disciplinary inquiry and fact-finding investigation to find out who was at fault from the beginning of the construction of the play area till its completion and possession. Top officials had participated in the events in the sports sector. You have suspended only lower level officials. Top officials have to go,” CJ Aggarwal said.
“The Municipal Corporation Commissioner cannot say that I am not aware.You arrested the officers without any fact-finding investigation into whether any higher official was responsible or not. You are taking action against small fish. Where are the big fish that were present at the inauguration ceremony? Why didn't you put any responsibility on him?" the bench asked.
Referring to the recent Morbi Bridge tragedy and Harni Lake incident, the CJ raised questions on the functioning of urban local bodies.
“We want a fact-finding investigation. We want to know the role of the guilty officers.The report should contain the name of each officer. Accountability should be fixed after conducting a departmental inquiry. Nothing less than that,” CJ said.
When the Advocate General appearing for the state government urged the bench to wait for a few more days as the SIT is submitting its report on June 20, the bench pointed out that the SIT report on the Morbi bridge tragedy has come very late.
“Not for a day.We want a departmental inquiry, and the first step is a fact-finding inquiry by a departmental authority. Because you are responsible for everything. We remained patient in the first two incidents. In all three incidents (Morbi bridge collapse, Vadodara boat incident and Rajkot game zone fire), one thing is common that these civic bodies are not working efficiently,'' the Chief Justice said.
“This happened in Morbi (Morbi bridge collapse incident).You waited for the SIT report for years. It came too late. We don't want to do that. Why are the department heads sitting silent? He should have taken the initiative on his own,” said CJ Aggarwal.
Apart from investigating the Rajkot fire, the bench asked the government to ensure that the fact-finding committee also investigates the functioning of all municipal corporations.
