‘We do not have faith in state machinery’, Gujarat High Court slams govt
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Monday came down heavily on the state government and the Rajkot civic body for their negligence and inaction in preventing the devastating fire at the TRP gaming zone that claimed 35 lives.
According to Kashmir Media Service, a Special Bench of Justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai expressed their lack of faith in the state machinery, saying it only reacts after innocent lives are lost. “We do not have faith in the state machinery now. Four years after orders of this court, this is the sixth incident that has happened. They only want lives to be lost and then trigger the machinery,” the Bench said.
The court was hearing a suo motu notice on the We do not have faith in the state machinery fire tragedy that occurred on May 25. The Bench asked the civic body why it did not take action against the gaming zone despite knowing it was operating without necessary approvals.
The court directed the municipal commissioners to file individual affidavits and asked the chief fire officers of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, and Rajkot to file affidavits on fire safety measures.
The Gujarat High Court’s strong stance comes after the devastating fire at the TRP gaming zone that raised questions about the safety measures in place and the role of the civic body and state government in preventing such tragedies.