After bashing at the government yesterday for not floating tender to renovate 150 year old Morbi bridge, the Gujarat HC today asked the civic body to file affidavit by the evening or else pay Rs.1 lakh penalty.
The bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri told the Morbi Municipality, “Yesterday you were acting smart, now you are taking the matter casually.” The court also added, “So, either file your reply by this evening, or pay a fine of ₹ 1 lakh.”
While defending their position, the lawyer of the civic body said that the Deputy collector is on election duty.
“The notice should have been sent to the Deputy Collector, but it was served to the civic body instead, on November 9. Thus, the delay in appearing before this court,” the lawyer added.
The court even yesterday directed the principal judge of the district court to serve a bailiff notice to the civic body. The HC has been repetitively asking for the detail reports on how the bridge got collapsed.
On October 30, Morbi bridge got collapsed leading to death of more than 130 people. Primary investigation indicates that there were negligence in the part of the renovating company Overa, a known watchmaker, that was given the contract of repair and maintenance.
After the tragic incident the HC took suo motu cognisance of the issue and said that it would hear the case from November 14.
The HC also rapped the government asking why no investigation has been commenced against the chief officer of the civic body. The civic body earlier wanted to shift the responsibility to the renovation firm saying that they opened it without taking the fitness certificate from the required authority. The court has now asked the civic body to show whether there was the mention of such certificate in the contract.
The bench of Chief Justice earlier also questioned the authority of the private firm to renovate the bridge as the contract was not renewed after 2017. In 2008, the first contract between the watchmaker Oreva and the civic body had been signed for 15 years. The value of the contract was Rs. 7 crores.
Notably, after 2017 the contract was not renewed. It was only this year, as per the primary observation of the court, another fresh agreement had been signed.
The HC has asked the civic body to submit the details of the contract in a sealed envelope.
