The Gujarat High Court on July 3 rebuked the state government over the committee report on the Harni boat tragedy. The court observed that the report, which read like a ‘story’, tried to hide facts of the matter with its language.

The court asked the government about the role of municipal commissioners and their involvement in the execution of the tender.

It said that the report leads the court far from a conclusion.

The state government admitted that there was a role for municipal commissioners in the tender procedure, from the beginning till the end of the procedure.

The court questioned the government on the report pointing out the fault of technical officers/junior level officers, and not the municipal commissioner.

“This report was intended to investigate the role of the municipal commissioner in the tender process, not to hold junior officials accountable,” the court said.

“The inquiry committee did not show any fault or criminal negligence of the municipal commissioner. We can order on this report but this report is not even fit to be presented before the court,” it added.

The court said that Kotiya Project was awarded the contract on the signature of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. The court added that  anyone could see that the company was not competent enough for the contract. .

The HC asked the government to withdraw the report and conduct a fresh inquiry into the entire matter - including taking departmental action, disciplinary action against all responsible high officials, informing the court of the outcome, and submitting an action-taken report.

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Harni boat tragedy: Gujarat HC expresses displeasure over inquiry committee’s report