File image of earth movers dismantling debris of a fire incident at TRP game zone at Rajkot, Gujarat.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
The Gujarat High Court on Thursday slammed the State authorities while hearing a suo motu petition related to the deadly fire in a game zone that killed 27 persons in Rajkot in May. The court asked what the authorities had been doing and why a demolition order for the illegal temporary structure housed in an amusement park was not executed for nearly a year.
The court’s remarks came in response to an affidavit submitted to the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi. The petition was taken up on May 26, a day after the tragedy.
The Gujarat government on Thursday submitted its fact-finding report on the TRP Game Zone blaze in Rajkot in a sealed cover to the High Court.
The Bench had in June expressed displeasure over the investigation into the fire, and ordered a fact-finding inquiry to uncover how the illegal game zone had come up, and the role of the officials of the local civic body and other departments.
After the court’s strictures, the State government had to appoint a fact-finding committee comprising IAS officers Manisha Chandra (Commissioner of Rural Development), P. Swaroop (Commissioner of Land Reforms), and Rajkumar Beniwal (Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gujarat Maritime Board).
While going through the State’s affidavit on Thursday, Chief Justice Agarwal said that although the officials of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) were aware that the TRP Game Zone was illegal, no action was taken against it despite a demolition order being served to the management in June 2023.
“A demolition order was issued by the RMC. One year has passed since then (till the fire incident). Why was it not executed? Where is the answer? That demolition order proves that officials knew that the structure was illegal,” the Chief Justice said during the hearing on Thursday.
When Advocate General Kamal Trivedi pointed out that the present Municipal Commissioner had already suspended the RMC’s Town Planning Officer (TPO) and an Assistant TPO for negligence, Chief Justice Agarwal said it was not enough.
“Taking action against a few people will not help you. The working [style] has to be revisited. There are loopholes and lapses which need to be taken care of. You cannot put this State in this situation. It is very serious that such incidents are happening,” the Chief Justice said.
The Division Bench also expressed displeasure over the State government’s submission that the then Rajkot Municipal Commissioner was unaware of the illegal structure because the TPO and his office were dealing with the matter, and the demolition notice was sent by the TPO and not the civic chief.
“You can’t say that this was not brought to my notice. It’s not an excuse. Even I can’t say that. I have to take responsibility for everything, good or bad. This should be the approach of the head of an institution,” the Chief Justice said.
Since a report from the State government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) is still pending, the court has asked Advocate General Trivedi to submit it along with an Action Taken Report on July 25, when the case will be heard next.
Twenty-seven persons, including four children, were killed in the massive fire that swept through the game zone in the Nana-Mava locality of Rajkot city on May 25. A probe revealed that the game zone had been running without a no objection certificate (NOC) from the RMC’s Fire Department, and without valid licenses.