Gujarat high court: Repeated accidents, graft by officials marring state’s image

AHMEDABAD: While hearing a suo motu PIL on the Rajkot fire tragedy, the Gujarat high court on Thursday expressed concern over image of the state in the aftermath of repeated accidents at public places and reports of massive unaccounted wealth amassed by an accused officer.

A massive fire at TRP Game Zone in Rajkot in May had killed 27 people. When state govt informed the court about action initiated against officials including Rajkot town planning officer MD Sagathiya, the bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi remarked on news of unaccounted wealth that Sagathiya has allegedly amassed.
"This person has been benefited, reports say.Everybody knows how it is done. This state (Gujarat) has a lot of potential. They cannot put this state in this situation for the sake of, and benefit of, a few officers. It is serious if these incidents happen one after the other," the court said.
On the issue of fire at TRP Game Zone, the HC questioned govt why demolition order for the gaming zone was not executed for nearly a year after Rajkot MC issued the notice in June 2023, and another fire incident that took place in Sept last year.
The HC inquired about the report of SIT and directed the govt to place the report before it along with action taken report by July 25.
The HC has posted further hearing on July 25.