Madras High Court directs Advocate General A L Somayaji to file status report on building collapse

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court today directed the State Advocate General A L Somayaji to file a status report with regard to the recent collapse of a multi-storey building here that left 61 persons dead.

The first bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan before which the PIL filed by DMK Treasurer M.K. Stalin, came up, wondered how it was possible for the one man Commission of Inquiry appointed by the State Government under Justice Raghupathy (retired High Court judge) to go into the matter when he was already continuing as President of the Consumer Redressal Forum.

He was also the head of another commission which has to go into the details of Act 14 (Goondas Act).

Senior Counsel P.Wilson submitted that there is need for a CBI probe as the government was only blaming the builder.

When the Advocate General submitted that a one-man inquiry commission had been appointed, Wilson argued that the said Judge was already functioning as President of Consumer Redressal Forum, and heading some other commission related to Act 14 (Goondas Act).

The bench then directed the AG to submit the status report with regard to the collapse of the building on June 28 as well as the cases pending before the consumer redressal forum and posted the matter for further hearing to August 28.