Gujarat High Court Orders Probe into Rajkot Game Zone Fire, Questions Official Accountability

The Gujarat High Court has mandated a fact-finding inquiry into the Rajkot game zone fire that claimed 27 lives. The court expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing investigation, urging accountability from top officials. A departmental inquiry will succeed the fact-finding process to fix responsibility for the tragedy. The report is due by July 4.

The Gujarat High Court, discontent with the current investigations into the fatal Rajkot game zone fire, has ordered a comprehensive 'fact finding inquiry'. This comes after the tragic incident claimed 27 lives last month. The court is determined to understand how the illegal structure came up and the roles played by the officials involved.

The court's frustration was further fueled by the fact that senior officials attended the inaugural ceremony of the TRP Game Zone, which was later gutted on May 25. A departmental inquiry to fix accountability will be initiated based on the findings of the fact-finding committee.

A division bench, including Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi, instructed the state government to establish this committee under the Principal Secretary of the Urban Development and Housing Department, with a report due by July 4. The CJ also mandated fire safety inspections for schools across the state.

Senior advocate Amit Panchal highlighted the involvement of high-ranking officials in the game's inauguration. Despite a parallel probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), the court expressed concerns that only lower-ranked officials were being held accountable, while the 'big fish' remained unscathed.

Chief Justice Agarwal emphasized that top officials must not evade responsibility, drawing parallels to past incidents like the Morbi bridge collapse. The court made it clear that a thorough inquiry is imperative to identify every erring official and fix accountability accordingly.

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