Gujarat High Court notice to insurance company in Harni Lake boat tragedy

Gujarat High Court on Thursday issued notice to United India Insurance Company Ltd after the insurer was impleaded as a respondent in the ongoing suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the tragic Harni Lake boat capsizing incident of January 18, 2024. Twelve school children and two teachers lost their lives during school picnic.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D N Ray directed the insurance company to show cause as to why the compensation determined by the SDM and deputy collector under the court's direction shall not be tied to it. 

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that contractor firm M/s Kotia Projects had a valid insurance policy with United India Insurance Company covering boating activities from January 9, 2024, to January 8, 2025 — thus fully covering the date of incident.

In a separate development in the same matter, the court allowed an application filed by M/s Kotia Projects to implead two alleged joint-venture partners — M/s Tristar Enterprise and M/s Dolphine Enterprise — as additional respondents.

The M/s Kotia Projects alleged that theirs was tripartite agreement between it and two joint venture partners to run the project and sub-contract boating activites at the lake. However, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, in its affidavit, maintained that it had never granted permission with regard to sub-contracting boating activities. The matter is likely to be heard on January 16, 2026.