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HC takes suo motu cognizance of hotel fire incident in Lucknow
Court directs LDA V-C to file an affidavit detailing the number of establishments, which are operating without proper building and fire permits in Lucknow
LUCKNOW The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday took suo motu cognizance of the Levana Suites fire incident that claimed four lives and directed LDA vice-chairman to be present before it on September 22.
The court also directed the VC to file an affidavit detailing the number of establishments, which are operating without proper building and fire permits in Lucknow.
A division bench of Justice Rakesh Srivastava and Justice Brij Raj Singh took cognizance of the September 5 incident through news reports published in Hindustan Times and other media.
“It is with utmost grief and shock that we are being forced to take suo motu cognizance of certain unfortunate events, which have taken place in the city of Lucknow, over the course of the last few days,” observed the court.
“The incident of fire at Levana Suites was widely covered by several digital and print media houses. Hindustan Times published a news report titled ‘4 dead, 8 injured in major blaze at Lucknow hotel’ on September 6, 2022,” it said.
“We are also surprised to note that the hotel actually had a valid fire NoC at the time when this unfortunate incident took place,” added the court.
The court also took note of a fire incident at a coaching institute on Shahnajaf Road, Hazratganj, on September 6. “The flames of the fire at Levana Suites hotel had not even cooled off completely when it came to our knowledge that another fire broke out in a coaching centre on September 6, 2022,” said the court.
“A coaching centre by the name of Gravity Classes, operating from a building on the crowded Shahnajaf Road in Hazratganj, witnessed two fire incidents within a span of a few hours,” observed the court.
“Even though various probes and inspections have been ordered by the state government after the unfortunate fire at Levana Suites, and the Lucknow Development Authority and other state bodies are seen to be embarking upon sealing and demolition drives, it is often observed that such probes and drives end up losing steam as soon as such tragic incidents die down in public memory,” stated the court.
“The public, as well as the authorities, seem to always forget that prevention is better than cure,” added the court.
“In an attempt to regulate and prevent such incidents in future, and to ensure that we end up taking permanent lessons from this incident, we are taking suo motu cognizance of various digital and print reports relating to the incident of fire at Levana Suites Hotel at Madan Mohan Malviya Marg, Lucknow, on September 5 morning, along with the reports regarding the fire at a coaching centre on Shahnajaf Road, Lucknow, on September 6 afternoon,” said the court.
