Rajkot fire: we don't trust Gujarat government, Gujarat HC
text_fields
Gandhinagar: Hours after the shocking fire at a gaming zone in Rajkot, the Gujarat High Court has come down heavily on the state government regarding the failure of the city’s municipal body to certify at least two video gaming zones.
On 25 May a video gaming zone was burst into flames killing 28 people including nine children the other day, NDTV reported.
The court’s vehement reaction came two days after the tragedy which left charred bodies of the victims beyond recognition.
The court said it could not ‘trust’ the state government any longer after learning that the two gaming zones had been working without permits, including fire safety certificates for over 24 months each.
"This has been going on for two-and-a-half years (referring to the Rajkot gaming zone). Are we to assume you turned a blind eye? What do you and your followers do?" the court asked.
Meanwhile, Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava reportedly said that local cops granted license to the Rajkot gaming zone in November last year and renewed to December 31, 2024.
Seeing the photographers of officials at the gaming zone, the court asked "Who were these officers? Did they go there to play?"
After learning that fire safety certification hearings remain unresolved for four years, the court pulled up the municipal body, asking "Have you gone blind? Did you fall asleep? Now we do not trust the local system and the state."
Representing the state government, advocate Manisha Luv Kumar Shah told the court that two other gaming zones in Ahmedabad lack permission to operate, and said a special team has been tasked to probe such issues and file a report within 72 hours.
The court was also told that three of the 34 mini-gaming zones inside malls do not have the mandatory no-objection certificate from fire department.
Reassuring the court, the state told the court that three owners were taken into custody and process to arrest others is ‘ongoing’.
However, the court highlighted instructions that it had given in the past four years following ‘many incidents’.
