Gujarat: Make fire insurance mandatory - PIL

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday sought a reply from the urban development department, municipal and police commissioners of Surat, and Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited, after a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the court's direction to make fire insurance coverage mandatory for commercial complexes, malls, banquets, coaching classes, and schools, came up for hearing. The division bench of Acting Chief Justice AS Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav issued notice to the authorities directing them to file their reply by June 27.

The petitioner Sajeev Ezhava through his counsel Vishal Dave pointed out that the recent fire incident at Takshashila Complex in Surat which resulted in 22 deaths has revealed the ground reality as far as implementation of fire safety norms are concerned.

The petitioner has demanded strict action against the owners of a building for violating the building bye-laws. He has sought that the authorities should be instructed to seal the entire building in case of any violation of norms, which would put an end to the practice of sidelining fire safety measures. Ezhava has also demanded that in case of errant builders, who are violating the rules and regulations related to fire safety and building construction, the authorities should cancel their license temporarily, or permanently, based on the level of violation. Following the arguments, the division bench has now posted the matter for further hearing on June 27.