Gujarat HC takes suo motu cognizance of Morbi bridge collapse incident

Ahmedabad, Nov 07: Gujarat High Court on Monday took suo motu cognizance of Morbi Bridge Collapse incident and issued notice to state government officials including home department, urban housing, Morbi municipality and State Human Rights Commission.

The court has sought a report on the entire incident from state government, within a week.

The Chief Justice said that it was a disheartening incident wherein 100s of citizens died an untimely death. He clarified that he had given telephonic directions to the Registrar of the High Court to register the Times of India article of October 31 as a PIL.

"We couldn't sit on same day to hear this matter due to Diwali vacations," Bar & Bench quoted CJ as saying. The next hearing is on November 14.

Century-old Morbi bridge had reopened five days ago after extensive repairs and renovation before it was collapsed around on October 30.

As many as 140 bodies were recovered from the Machchhu river in Gujarat's Morbi town by the armed forces, National Disaster Response Force and other rescue agencies.

The bridge was originally built in 1877 and had been closed for six months for repairs. The cops arrested nine people on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Those arrested included ticketing clerks accused of letting too many people onto the bridge and contractors who were in charge of repair work.

All the accused are from the private company Oreva co which has been responsible for maintaining the bridge.