Rajkot fire tragedy: Gujarat govt sets up fact finding panel of 3 IAS officers

Ahmedabad, Jun 17 (PTI) The Gujarat government on Monday set up a 'fact finding committee' to probe the role of officials in the May 25 game zone fire tragedy in Rajkot, in which 27 persons died.

The fact finding committee comprises 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), said Principal Secretary in the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department Ashwani Kumar.

The announcement comes days after the Gujarat High Court expressed displeasure on the investigation underway into the Rajkot game zone fire and ordered a 'fact finding inquiry' to probe how the illegal structure came up and what was the role of officials.

Expressing anguish over several senior officials attending the inaugural ceremony of TRP Game Zone, which was gutted on May 25, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi had on June 13 said a departmental inquiry to fix accountability of officials will be ordered once the fact finding committee submits its report.

During the hearing on June 13, CJ Agarwal had said "there has to be a disciplinary inquiry and a fact finding probe to find out who was at fault from the day the game zone construction started till it was completed and occupied".

The bench also admonished the administration saying action was being taken against "smaller fish", while asking where were the "big fish, who were present in the inaugural function".

The division bench is hearing a PIL it had taken up suo motu on May 26.

During the June 13 hearing, the CJ had asked the state government to constitute a fact finding committee under the Principal Secretary of Urban Development and Urban Housing Department by Monday. It asked the state government to submit the report by July 4.

Apart from investigating the Rajkot fire incident, the bench asked the government to ensure the fact finding committee also examines the functioning of all municipal corporations. PTI PJT PD BNM