A fire which broke out at an amusement and theme park at Rajkot in the evening of May 25, in which at least 33 people, including 12 children, were killed, was a "man made disaster in which innocent lives were lost," the Gujarat High Court has said, taking suo motu cognisance of the incident.
According to the FIR registered, no fire safety permissions had been taken for the 50-metre wide and 60-metre structure, which was as tall as a two-to-three storey building. Metal sheet fabrication had been used to create a ‘game zone.’
The Rajkot police commissioner Raju Bhargava had said in a press conference on Sunday that a case under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 337 ( causing hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 114 (for abettor present when the offense is committed) had been registered against six people. Two of them were in custody.
"Prima facie a man made disaster has occurred where innocent lives of children have been lost and families have grieved today for the loss of lives in their respective families," a bench of Justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan M Desai observed in a special hearing on Sunday.
The court also expressed shock at some reports in newspapers that the amusement and theme park owners could have bypassed state regulations to set up a temporary structure to carry out recreational activities illegally.
Again quoting newspapers, the court noted the presence of inflammable material such as fuel and tyres at the site.
As other such entertainment centres existed in the state, the court directed its registry to register a suo motu PIL petition
.
Responses of the Municipal Corporations of Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Baroda were sought on provisions of law under which these Corporations allowed such gaming zones to be set up.
The court listed the suo motu PIL for further hearing on Monday.
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