On Thursday, the Gujarat High Court once again criticized the state government regarding the Rajkot game zone fire that resulted in 27 fatalities in May. The court questioned why an order for the demolition of the illegal structure had not been carried out for nearly a year.

The censure arose in response to an affidavit submitted to the division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi. The bench has been hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) that it initiated on May 26, the day following the tragedy.

Further, the Gujarat government also submitted its "fact-finding inquiry" report in a sealed cover to the High Court regarding the TRP game zone blaze in Rajkot.

Last month, the bench expressed displeasure over the investigation into the fire and ordered a "fact-finding inquiry" to uncover how the illegal game zone was established and the roles played by officials in its creation.

In response, the Gujarat government appointed a "fact-finding committee" comprising IAS officers Manisha Chandra (Commissioner of Rural Development), P Swaroop (Commissioner of Land Reforms), and Rajkumar Beniwal (Vice Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Gujarat Maritime Board).

While reviewing the state's affidavit on Thursday, the Chief Justice noted that although the officials of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) were aware that the TRP game zone was illegal, no action was taken against it, even after a demolition order was served to the management in June 2023.

"A demolition order was issued by the RMC. One year has passed since then (till the fire incident). Why was it not executed? Where is the answer? That demolition order proves that officials knew that the structure was illegal," the CJ said.

When Advocate General Kamal Trivedi pointed out that the present Municipal Commissioner had already suspended RMC's Town Planning Officer (TPO) and an Assistant TPO for negligence, Chief Justice Agarwal remarked that it was insufficient.

"Taking action against a few people will not help you. The working (style) has to be revisited. There are loopholes and lapses which need to be taken care of. You cannot put this state in this situation. It is very serious that such incidents are happening," noted the chief justice.

The bench also expressed displeasure over the state government's submission that the then Rajkot municipal commissioner was unaware of the illegal structure because the Town Planning Officer (TPO) and his office were handling the matter, and the demolition notice was issued by the TPO, not the civic chief.

"The excuse that this was not brought to my notice is not acceptable. Even I cannot use that excuse. I have to take responsibility for everything, whether good or bad. This should be the approach of the head of an institution," remarked Chief Justice Agarwal.

As the report from the state government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) is still pending, the court has directed Mr. Trivedi to submit both the SIT report and an Action Taken Report by July 25, the next hearing date.

Twenty-seven individuals, including four children, lost their lives in the tragic fire that engulfed the game zone in the Nana-Mava locality of Rajkot city on May 25.

A probe revealed that the game zone was operating without any No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC).