Gujarat High Court has taken a stern stance against the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) and its municipal commissioner for failing to address fire safety concerns at the TRP Game Zone, which led to a devastating fire on May 25 that claimed 28 lives.

In a recent hearing, Chief Justice Sunita Agrawal and Justice Pranav Trivedi criticised the 1,800-page affidavit submitted by the municipal commissioner, deeming it a useless attempt to justify failures rather than admit mistakes. The court dismissed the affidavit, stating that the municipal commissioner should have acknowledged his fault and apologised for the incident.

The court emphasised that the civic chief cannot evade responsibility by shifting blame to subordinate officials. The accountability does lie with the municipal commissioner.

The report from the fact-finding committee, which had relieved the municipal commissioner of responsibility, was not accepted by the court.

The High Court issued a notice to the municipal commissioner, demanding an explanation for the steps taken following the court’s previous orders and measures to compensate the families affected by the fire. 

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for September 27.

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