Gujarat HC asks why illegal building in Rajkot game zone was not demolished for a year

Rajkot game zone fire: The Gujarat government submitted its fact-finding report on the TRP Game Zone blaze in Rajkot in a sealed cover to the High Court. 

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday slammed the State authorities while hearing a suo motu petition related to the deadly fire in a game zone that killed 27 persons in Rajkot in May. The court asked what the authorities had been doing and why a demolition order for the illegal temporary structure housed in an amusement park was not executed for nearly a year. 

The court’s remarks came in response to an affidavit submitted to the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi. The petition was taken up on May 26, a day after the tragedy.

The Gujarat government on Thursday submitted its fact-finding report on the TRP Game Zone blaze in Rajkot in a sealed cover to the High Court. 

The Bench had in June expressed displeasure over the investigation into the fire, and ordered a fact-finding inquiry to uncover how the illegal game zone had come up, and the role of the officials of the local civic body and other departments. 

After the court’s strictures, the State government had to appoint a fact-finding committee comprising IAS officers Manisha Chandra (Commissioner of Rural Development), P. Swaroop (Commissioner of Land Reforms), and Rajkumar Beniwal (Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gujarat Maritime Board).

While going through the State’s affidavit on Thursday, Chief Justice Agarwal said 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 despite a demolition order being 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 Chief Justice said during the hearing on Thursday.