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The Gujarat High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the fire incident at TRP Game Zone in Rajkot that killed at least 27 people on Saturday evening. The court said it was prima facie a “man-made disaster” and will hear the issue on Monday, May 27.
The bench of justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai observed that such gaming zones and recreational facilities have come up without the necessary approvals from competent authorities. The bench directed advocates of the Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot municipal corporations to appear before it on Monday with instructions as to under what provisions of law the authorities led these units to be set up or continue to operate under their jurisdiction.
The Gujarat high court also wanted to know from the Gujarat government and the municipal corporations “whether such licenses, including the licenses to its use and compliance of fire safety regulations” were given to these respective (entertainment) zones that are in territorial jurisdiction of these corporations.
The court listed the suo motu petition for further hearing on Monday, with a direction to the panel advocates for the respective corporations to appear before it with instructions as to “under what provisions of law these corporations led these gaming zones/recreational facilities to be set up or continue and be put to use”.
A five-member Special Investigation Team formed by the Gujarat government to conduct a probe into the incident and submit a report within 72 hours has reached Rajkot.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over the incident. PM Modi spoke to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday to inquire about the rescue and relief efforts.
The state director general of police has issued instructions to the commissioners of police and superintendents of police to inspect all the game zones in Gujarat and close those running without fire safety permission.