The High Court of Gujarat has pulled up the Morbi Municipal Corporation (MMC) for not filing any response to a suo motu public interest litigation case filed in the bridge collapse which led to the death of 135 persons.
The MMC has been ordered by the Court to either file its response by evening today or pay hefty costs.
A bench comprising of of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri have given the orders for the quick response to MMC.
The Chief Justice Kumar had instructed the MMC counsel for Stop taking this matter so casually. The Court said that either you file your affidavit by today evening or pay costs of ₹1 lakh.
The Court was very angry after the counsel appearing for the MMC sought some time for filing its response in the petition.
On Tuesday, the bench had observed that the MMC was trying to act smart by not appearing before it despite a notice being issued.
The MMC today informed that the civic body is being looked after by the deputy collector, Morbi.
The Counsel explained that the Deputy collector, is also on election duty. The notice should have been served to him but it was served to the civic body on November 9. Thus, the delay in appearing before this court.
Yesterday, the Court wanted to know from the Gujarat government how was the private contractor allowed to operate the bridge and earn revenue even after his contract expiring way back in 2017.
The bench had also posed many questions to the State regarding the lapses on its part.
The Bench, last week had taken suo motu cognizance of the tragic collapse of suspension bridge called Julto Pul in Morbi, Gujarat on October 30.
The Bench had then directed the State, its Chief Secretary, the Morbi Municipal Corporation, the Urban Development Department (UDD), the State Home Department and the State Human Rights Commission to send their response in the matter.