Morbi bridge collapse: Stop taking this matter so casually, Gujarat High Court raps civic body

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Morbi Municipal Corporation (MMC) advising it against taking the Morbi bridge collapse incident “casually”. A bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh K Shashtri directed the civic body to file a counter-affidavit regarding the collapse incident, that claimed over 135 lives, by 4.30 PM today or pay Rs 1 lakh as a fine, reported Bar and Bench.

“Stop taking this matter so casually. Either file your affidavit by today evening or pay costs of Rs 1 lakh,” Bar and Bench quoted Chief Justice Kumar as telling the counsel appearing for the MMC.

The development comes after the counsel for the civic body sought time till November 24 to file a reply to the notice issued in a suo motu PIL taken up by the court in the bridge collapse incident.

Also Read: Gujarat bridge tragedy: “Acting smart” — High Court raps Morbi civic authority for failing to turn up for hearing

On Tuesday, the bench noted that MMC was ‘playing smart’ by not appearing before it despite issuance of a notice. The HC asked why no disciplinary action was taken against the MMC’s chief officer for dereliction of duty and sought replies from the state. The HC further wondered about the reason behind giving the maintenance contract to Oreva even without floating a tender.

On October 30, the collapse of the British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Gujarat’s Morbi district claimed the lives of 135 people, including women and children. The tragedy struck just four days after the bridge was reopened for the public following seven months of renovation.

The Gujarat High Court, on November 7, said that it has taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of a news report on the bridge collapse tragedy and registered it as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). It had directed the registry to implead the Gujarat government, represented by its Chief Secretary, state Home department, Commissioner of municipalities, Morbi municipality, District Collector and the State Human Rights Commission.

Also Read: Morbi collapse: Bridge cable ‘rusted’, DSP tells court; Oreva manager says incident ‘will of God’

On October 31, the Gujarat police arrested nine people, including four from the Oreva group that was managing the Morbi bridge, and filed a case against firms that were tasked with the operation and maintenance of the structure.