Judicial inquiry will be conducted into house collapse in Malad, Bombay High Court order

Terming a building collapse in Mumbai’s Malad as a man-made disaster, the Bombay High Court has ordered a judicial inquiry into the matter. Along with this, the High Court ordered that the investigation of the accident be completed within a fortnight.

Taking suo motu cognizance of the incident, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Girish Kulkarni slammed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) saying that the lives of citizens are not cheap enough to leave them to die in such incidents. .

Soon after the house collapsed at around 11.30 pm on Wednesday, Mumbai Police had registered a case against the landlord Rafiq Siddiqui on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, while construction contractor Ramzan Shaikh has been arrested in connection with the incident. 12 people have been claimed to have lost their lives in this accident, in which nine members of the same family were involved. Eight minors, including a girl child, were among those who lost their lives.

When BMC’s counsel Anil Sakhare argued that the land in Malvani in Malad West, where the tragedy occurred, belonged to the collector, the Chief Justice asked whether any government directive could go beyond the constitutional mandate, as it would make the BMC illegal. Forces to work against construction.

There have been two building accidents each in Mumbai and Thane in the last 25 days, in which a total of 24 people were killed and 23 others injured. Expressing concern over this situation, the bench asked, after all, how many more people will die?
The court warned all the municipal corporations of the area that the court would not sit silent if the house collapsed again like this.

While ordering the commission of inquiry to probe the tragedy and submit its report by June 23, the court warned all the corporations that it would take major action if more people lost their lives in future.
During this, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told that 75 percent constructions in Malvani are illegal.

The court asked BMC’s counsel Sakhare why the civic authorities failed to act. Were they waiting for death? The High Court warned that if such incidents happen, they (officers) will be responsible for the deaths.