New Delhi. The Gujarat High Court is currently hearing the Rajkot fire incident. Both the petitioner and the government’s lawyers are presenting their arguments. Representing the state government, Additional Advocate General Manisha Shah and Mitesh Amin have presented their statement before the court. During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer argued that the state government should follow the GDCR for construction, but these rules are only on paper and are never actually followed. The lawyer argued that the death of 28 people in the incident is equivalent to murder, and emphasized the failure of the responsible departments to implement the established rules. The petitioner pointed to the broader issue of non-compliance with GDCR rules in construction, highlighting that no permission was taken for the Rajkot Game Zone.
The court asked how long the game zone has been operational, to which the petitioner’s counsel replied that it has been operational for 15 months. The petitioner questioned the purpose of the rules as they are not being implemented, citing repeated incidents of fire across the state, including in Bharuch, Surat, Ahmedabad and various hospitals. The counsel criticised the system for its failure to protect public safety, despite collecting significant revenue.
The High Court had also held a session on Sunday and taken suo motu cognizance of the Rajkot incident. During the hearing on the previous day, the court had called the incident a man-made disaster, terming the gaming zone a threat to public safety. The court sought a report within a day and sought a response from the municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. The court questioned the regulatory basis for operating such zones.