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Aliganj fire: High court pulls up authorities; govt, LDA, power dept asked to frame SOP
The court also expressed displeasure over the different criteria for awarding compensation to the victims and stressed the need for a uniform standard for determining compensation. The court questioned the parties’ lawyers on how a commercial electricity connection had been approved in a residential complex.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday pulled up authorities concerned from the state government, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), and the electricity department over the June 22 Aliganj fire tragedy. The court ordered them to introduce a standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
The court also expressed displeasure over the different criteria for awarding compensation to the victims and stressed the need for a uniform standard for determining compensation.
The court questioned the parties’ lawyers on how a commercial electricity connection had been approved in a residential complex.
The court sought the parties’ responses and asked what action they had taken so far. The next hearing will be held on August 4.
A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla issued the oral order in open court on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a local lawyer, Shivendu Pandey. The petition sought directions for the formation of an independent, time-bound, and court-monitored committee to investigate the incident.
Chief standing counsel (CSC) Shailendra Kumar Singh informed the court that the state government was taking appropriate and effective action to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
Additional advocate general Vinod Kumar Shahi was also present during the hearing.
The PIL names the UP government, the Centre, the UP director general of Fire and Emergency Services, the Lucknow chief fire officer, the Lucknow municipal commissioner, the vice-chairman of the LDA, the district magistrate, and five other authorities as respondents.
