The Gujarat High Court in the case observed and took suo moto cognizance of the January 18 boat capsize incident in the Vadodara district.
The court stated that the said incident resulted in the loss of 16 lives, including 12 children and two teachers who were on a picnic.
The bench comprising of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P. Mayee in the case observed and has called for an action taken report on the matter from the Secretary, Home Department, State of Gujarat along with an affidavit of the Gazetted Officer from the Home Department, Government of Gujarat, by January 29.
In the present case, the order was passed after the President of the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association, Brijesh Trivedi mentioned the matter before the Court while referring to news items about the tragedy.
The court stated while calling the newspaper items, which reported that there was complete flouting of the safety norms as the children on the boat had not even been provided life jackets as ‘disturbing’.
The court orally stated that ‘this type of recklessness cannot be tolerated’.
The bench of Chief Justice Agarwal orally observed that it is the most tragic incident…This can be curbed very easily, this can be managed very easily if you are following safety norms you can always avoid such incidents…This is not to be tolerated at all.
Further, the court stated that the reason behind the incident at Harni Lake in Vadodara remains unclear. Thus, the Local authorities have reported that approximately 27 individuals were on the boat during the incident.
It has also been stated that the Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said that up to seven people have been successfully rescued and are currently receiving medical attention at a nearby hospital.
Therefore, the court stated that the victims were not equipped with life jackets during the boat ride.
The court observed that Gujarat CM Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel has already handed over the high-level probe of the incident to the Vadodara District Magistrate. Accordingly, the detailed report has been sought within 10 days.