Rajkot fire tragedy: Gujarat High Court pulls up civic body, says it has no faith in state machinery

Gandhinagar: Taking suo motu cognisance of the Rajkot Gaming Zone fire tragedy, the Gujarat High Court came down heavily on the civic body on Monday and said that all the municipal commissioners, right from the time the TRP game zone was set up in 2021 till the time of the incident, should be held responsible for the incident.

Saying that the HC could no longer trust the state machinery which reacts only after loss of innocent lives, the division bench comprising Justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai asked the municipal commissioners to file individual affidavits.

The court further asked the Chief Fire Officers of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot municipal corporations to file affidavits regarding fire safety measures within their respective areas.


After the civic body pointed out that the gaming zone never sought requisite permission, the court asked if the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) had turned a blind eye to the big structure that had come up in the vicinity. "How do you explain that the entire zone has existed for the last two-and-a-half years? What fire safety measures were applied? Were you aware of the entertainment tax when ticketing was done? Are you completely turning a blind eye to the whole issue?" the court asked.

It was further pointed out in the court that the gaming zone was operating without the necessary No Objection Certificate from the fire department.

Meanwhile, the state government suspended five officials from various departments for negligence in connection with the fire tragedy.

It may be mentioned here that 28 people, including children lost their lives when a fire broke out in a gaming zone in Rajkot on Saturday. With several bodies being charred beyond recognition, DNA samples are now being tested to ascertain their identities.

The court will hear the matter on June 6 next.