Gujarat High Court considers the fire at the Rajkot gaming zone to be a man-made tragedy, acting suo motu

The court composed of Justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai noted that these gaming areas and recreational amenities had opened without the required permissions from the appropriate authorities.

On Sunday, a special bench of the Gujarat High Court said that the fire event at a gaming zone in Rajkot, which claimed the lives of 27, was likely a "man-made disaster" and took suo motu notice of it.

The court composed of Justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai noted that these gaming areas and leisure amenities have been established without the required permissions from relevant authorities.

Advocates representing the municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, and others were ordered by the bench to come before it on Monday with information on the legal provisions that allowed the authorities to establish these units and allowed them to continue operating under their purview.

According to authorities, a large fire on Saturday evening that raced through Rajkot's gaming zone, which was packed with people enjoying a summer holiday adventure, resulted in the deaths of 27 people and the injuries of three more. Among the victims were four children under the age of twelve.

On Sunday morning, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel paid a visit to both the hospital where the wounded individuals were hospitalized and the scene of the tragedy at Nana-Mava road.

We are astonished to learn from press articles that the Rajkot gaming zone seems to have exploited gaps in the Gujarat Comprehensive General Development Control Regulations (GDCR). The court noted that these entertainment zones, as reported by the media, had emerged without the required authorization from the relevant authorities.

The HC also requested information from the municipal corporations and the state government about "whether such licenses, including the licenses to its use and compliance of fire safety regulations" were granted to the various entertainment zones that fall under the corporate territorial authority of these companies.

The court observed that these entertainment zones, as reported by the media, had emerged without the required authorization from the relevant authorities.

The high court, citing allegations from newspapers, said that temporary buildings were erected at the TRP gaming zone in Rajkot to get over the difficulties encountered in obtaining the required approvals and no-objection certificates, such as the construction license and fire NOC.

These gaming zones have not only appeared in Rajkot but also in Ahmedabad, and it was said that they "pose a significant threat to public safety, specially the innocent children."

"Apart from having constructed such gaming zones/ leisure pursuits, they have been put to use evidently, according to our knowledge gained from the newspaper reports, without permission," the judge said.

It said that "prima facie, a man-made disaster has occurred because innocent lives of children have been lost" and that "families have grieved their loss."

The Rajkot gaming zone, where the fire broke out, was home to a stockpile of very combustible materials including gasoline, fibers, and fiber glass sheets, the court found.

On Monday, the court scheduled a follow-up hearing for the suo motu petition, directing the panel advocates to come before it and explain "under what provisions of law these corporations led these playing games zones/recreational facilities to be set up or continue as well as be put to use." The party-in-person, Amit Panchal, requested for an urgent hearing on a civil plea in a PIL on fire safety, and the bench granted it.

According to Panchal's note, the devastating fire indicates that the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, the Gujarat Fire Prevention as well as Life Safety Measures Act, 2013, and all of the regulations framed under it, as well as directives from the Gujarat High Court and the Supreme Court, have not been followed.