Morbi Bridge Tragedy

While hearing a suo moto public interest litigation (PIL) on the tragic Morbi bridge collapse that killed more than 135 people in October 2022, the Gujarat High Court, on Mar 22, directed the accused company Oreva Group to adopt the affected village and transform it.

A bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P Mayee suggested that Oreva set up a separate trust for the victims and the affected people.

“The Oreva company should bear the education expenses of the children of the affected families. Children who have lost their fathers should be considered orphans, and their future should be taken care of. After the death of the husband, the mother has to work for economic reasons in such a situation. Therefore, Oreva Company should create a separate trust for orphan children, widows, and elderly victims. The company will also have to work for the school fees of the children, the amount of financial assistance, and the fulfilment of basic needs,” the court said.

The high court also directed the company to appoint a public welfare officer.

During the hearing, it was brought to the court’s attention that Jaysukh Patel, the main accused in the case and CMD (chief managing director) of Oreva Group, had been granted bail by the Supreme Court.

However, the high court rejected the company’s argument that it could not take any decisions in the absence of Patel.

“The directors of the company or Jaysukh Patel’s family members could have taken the decision. The company is not an orphan. The company’s operations do not stop because there is no CMD,” the court said.

The high court also directed the company to sit with the Morbi collector, collect data on all the victims, analyse it, and file an affidavit on what the company has done for the victims so far and what it plans to do in the future.

The court has posted the matter for further hearing after three weeks.

Also read:

Morbi bridge tragedy: SC grants conditional bail to Oreva Group’s Jaysukh Patel

Morbi bridge tragedy: Guj HC directs Oreva Group to caretake the victims, orphans