The Gujarat High Court has refused to hand over the
investigation into the 2022 Morbi bridge collapse tragedy to the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) as sought by the kin of the victims.
The court can not look into the correctness of the
ongoing investigation, said a division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal
and Justice Pranav Trivedi. The court was hearing a suo motu public interest
litigation (PIL) initiated after the October 30, 2022, incident at Morbi in
Gujarat in which 135 persons lost their lives when a British-era suspension
bridge on the Machchhu river collapsed. Some of the victims and kin of the deceased
sought reinvestigation of the entire case through the CBI, accusing Gujarat
Police of not carrying out a proper investigation and not making any civic
official accused despite a Special Investigation Team holding some of them
responsible. In a separate application submitted last month seeking a CBI
probe, the victims argued that the then district collector was present at all
the meetings related to the awarding of the contract to Oreva Group for the
maintenance of the bridge, but his statement was never recorded.
During Thursday's hearing, advocate Rahul Sharma,
appearing for the victims, sought to add murder charges to the main FIR.
Advocate General Kamal Trivedi informed the bench
that a chargesheet was filed last year and the then chief officer of Morbi
Nagarpalika, who stands suspended, is facing a disciplinary inquiry. When
Sharma pressed for reinvestigation, the chief justice said ordering
reinvestigation was beyond the scope of this PIL. "The chargesheet has
already been filed. That can not be challenged through a PIL. For that, you
need to approach the concerned sessions court dealing with the case. This is
beyond the scope of this PIL. Remedies for criminal investigation are there. We
are only taking care of the compensation and rehabilitation part," the
chief justice told Sharma. The chief justice termed the application as
"misconceived". The collector was not a signatory to the agreement
signed with the Oreva group, chief justice Agarwal noted.
"Beyond this (compensation and rehabilitation), the court in the
PIL can not look into the correctness of the investigation. Prayer for the
quashing of the chargesheet is wholly misconceived. The present application is
accordingly disposed of," she said.