Gujarat HC rejects state govt's probe report on Vadodara boat tragedy

The Gujarat high court on Wednesday rejected an inquiry report submitted by the state government into a boat tragedy in Vadodara and ordered a fresh probe, noting it absolves a former civic chief, and questioned his decision to award contract to operate the lakefront where the incident took place to an unqualified firm.

The HC also criticised the principal secretary of the urban development and urban housing department for preparing and submitting such a report, nearly 6 months after 14 persons lost their lives in the tragedy.

Twelve students and two teachers died when a boat capsized in Motnath lake in the Harni area of Vadodara city on January 18.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi is hearing a suo motu (on its own) PIL on the incident.

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation had awarded a contract to maintain and operate the lakefront project to a firm, Kotia Projects, whose partners were subsequently arrested for the tragedy.

Expressing displeasure over the report, the bench noted it tries to protect the then-municipal commissioner (MC) of Vadodara despite the fact that the contractor was not qualified to bag the project.

"The then-commissioner had himself signed the order granting work order to that contractor. So he was the sole person who gave permission. Even a lay person can see that the contractor is not qualified. But, the report said he did nothing wrong. We want an impartial and fair inquiry. Take back this report and make a fresh inquiry," noted the CJ.

The chief justice also criticised the principal secretary of the urban development and urban housing department for preparing and submitting such a report.

"The PS can not say that they (MC) were required to act in a manner but they have not. So, there was no fault on their (MC) part? MC approved the tender, yet he is not at fault? This type of report can not be submitted to the court. You either withdraw this report and file a fresh report otherwise we will make very serious observations," cautioned CJ Agarwal.

Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, appearing for the state government, initially tried to defend the contents of the report, but eventually he admitted that "perhaps language could have been much better".

Referring to the report, he admitted that the contracting firm which was rejected in the first attempt of inviting Expressions of Interest (EoIs), should not have been given a contract in the second one.

The Advocate General then agreed with the court's instruction and said the state government will undertake a fresh probe and submit a new report.

The bench fixed July 12 for further hearing on the matter.

During a previous hearing on June 27, when the report was submitted to the court, the bench said the report tried to protect the then-municipal commissioner who had given his approval to Kotia Projects to run a recreation facility, including boating, at Motnath lake.

Citing the report, the bench had also noted that though Kotia Projects was disqualified when the VMC invited EoIs to develop the lakefront for the first time, it was eventually awarded the contract in the second attempt when tenders were invited.

During a hearing on April 25, the bench had ordered a departmental inquiry against then-Vadodara municipal commissioner in connection with the incident after observing he appeared to have illegally granted the contract in 2015-16 for the Harni Motnath lakefront project to Kotia Projects.

As per the incumbency chart of civic chiefs on the VMC website, HS Patel was the municipal commissioner from February 25, 2015 to June 23, 2016. He was succeeded by Dr Vinod Rao, who held the post from June 24, 2016 to July 17, 2018.