Court rejects petition seeking judicial probe

HC SAYS IT’S TOO EARLY FOR THE COURT TO INTERFERE AS THE AUTHORITIES WERE DEALING WITH THE CASE

NEWDELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a PIL seeking a judicial inquiry and a probe by the CBI or any other independent agency into the Anaj Mandi fire near Filmistan here which claimed 43 lives.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar said t he f i re occurred on December 8 and it was too early for the court to interfere as the authorities were dealing with it and also deliberating on preventing such incidents in future.

Dismissing the petition by lawyer Avadh Kaushik, the court said if there is inaction on part of the authorities with regard to the incident, after a reasonable period of time, then he can move a fresh plea.

According to news reports, 43 people had died and several others were injured when the fire swept through a factory in a fourstorey building located in Anaj Mandi area, the petition had said.

It had alleged that not only was the building illegally constructed, the factory was manufacturing plastic packing material without any license, registration or fire safety systems.

Besides seeking a judicial inquiry by a retired judge and an investigation by an independent agency into the incident, the petition had sought compensation for the victims and framing of guidelines to prevent such incidents in future.